Reading PJO and HOO and HP!
by candyland7
Summary: What happens when I bring the characters from Harry Potter and Percy Jackson together to read the series mentioned above. It includes some of the dead characters from Harry Potter such as Lily, James, Fred, Sirius, and Lupin. Will soon have dead PJO characters, such as Bianca, Silena, and Beckendorf. Includes a few OC's.
1. I ACCIDENTLY VAPORIZE MY TEACHER

**Me: As you know, this is a PJO/HOO and HP crossover. Set after the end of both the current books… so after the war with Voldemort and the demigods are from right after HOO. Once BOO comes out after a month I'll switch the demigods from after that… so yeah.**

**Harry: While my series come in?**

**Me: It will switch off, after the Lightning Thief is done it will switch to the Sorcerer's Stone.**

**Henrietta: So who will be reading with us?**

**Me: You will find out.**

**Percy: Nice try Henrietta.**

**Henrietta: I usually go by Lily…**

**Me: That won't work here! Also, I'm going to show up with a code name.**

**Thalia: She actually gave us a hint…**

**Harry: Anyways… who wants to do the disclaimer?**

**Me: *pouts* that's my thing.**

**Harry: To bad.**

**Percy: I guess I will. Candyland7 owns nothing but her OC's, herself, and the parts that she changed up… to fit the story plot.**

**3****rd**** Person POV **

There was a bright light then a bunch of screaming, most of them which where names of people.

"HARRY!" A straight haired red haired girl shouted.

"GINNY!" A boy with glasses shouted.

"HELP!" A black haired girl with a blue streak exclaimed.

"Hold on Thal's!" A boy with messy black hair replied.

They all landed on the floor in a heap and looked around the blank room. It was white and didn't even have a couch. The demigods and wizards all looked at each other. There was a girl with curly red hair and greenish hazel eyes, a girl with bushy brown hair and eyes, a boy with red hair and freckles, a boy with glasses and a lightning bolt scar, and a girl with straight red hair and brown eyes. On the demigods side there was a boy with sea-green eyes and messy black hair, a girl with spiky black hair with a blue streak and electric blue eyes, a boy with black hair and eyes, and a girl with curled black hair and sea-green eyes.

"Hello, care to tell us who you are?" the boy with sea-green eyes asked.

"I'm Harry, this is Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Henrietta," the boy with glasses introduced.

"Percy, this is Thalia, Nico, and my little sister Tiana."

"Henrietta's my twin."

Suddenly a voice cut through, "Now that you guys know each other I'm going to bring in a few more people. You should know them wizards… except for one."

They all turned to see a girl with sea-green eyes and short layered black hair. She had no fear in her eyes at them, but she was smiling, as though they were good friends. Apparently the demigods knew her, because they all groaned.

"Really Kara? Another reading gig?" Percy asked glaring at the girl.

"First of all, my real name is Karen, thank you very much. You can overuse that name, but not my nickname," the girl, Kara, warned, "and yes, another reading gig. I happen to like them."

"Only because you like torturing us."  
"Love you to," Kara said sarcastically, "Anyways, they should be coming right about… now."

Right when she said that, more people fell from the sky. Harry recognized them all, except for two of them. The first one he didn't recognize was a girl with long black hair with bright red tips and hazel eyes. She was wearing ripped black jeans, black boots with silver chains, a black leather jacket with silver studs, black fingerless gloves with silver studs, and a strapless, sweet heart neckline, red shirt with black lace over it. She was also wearing scarlet lipstick, red eye shadow, and black eyeliner. She looked around nineteen. The second girl had blonde hair, hazel eyes, and was wearing; a blue shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes.

"Introduce yourselves," Kara ordered.

"I'm Sirius Black," Sirius said in shock.

"Remus Lupin," He mumbled.

"James Potter," James muttered.

Harry and Henrietta gaped at him, causing Kara to chuckle.

"Lily Potter," Lily answered staring at Harry and Henrietta.

"Evangeline Potter," Eva said, "But call me Eva."

"Eva!" James exclaimed, "What happened with you?"

"Long story," she sighed, "One that should come up."

"I'm Ariella Black," Ariella introduced, "But call me Ari."

"Fred Weasley," Fred muttered staring at Ari, "Do I know you?"

"No."

"I'm George Weasley," George said poking at his missing ear.

"What happened to your ear?" Sirius asked.

"It will come up," Kara said before the others could do anything, "Now demigods! Introduce yourselves!"

Percy rolled his sea-green eyes at his half-sister, "Fine, I'm Percy Jackson. This is my sister Tiana, she doesn't talk much."

"I'm Thalia," Thalia mumbled, "I don't use my last name."

"Nico di Angelo," Nico introduced stroking his sword.

"Jason Grace," Jason said smirking at the demigods' surprised faces.

"When did you come?" Percy asked.

"With the others. I'm guessing Kara has something to do with this," Jason laughed.

"Yeah…"

"Anyways, I'm the awesome Leo Valdez!" Leo exclaimed striking a pose.

"Immature," Ariella mumbled.

"HEY!" Leo pouted.

"Anyways, I'm Piper Mclean," Piper said pushing Leo over.

"Hazel Leveque," Hazel introduced.

"Frank Zhang," Frank muttered waving.

"Other wizards," Kara sighed.

"Harry Potter," Harry mumbled looking at his parents.

"Henrietta Potter," Henrietta muttered, "Though I usually go by Lily… I guess I can't do that."

"Ron Weasley," Ron added.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione said.

"Ginny Weasley," Ginny sighed.

"Okay!" Kara exclaimed, "Who wants to read first, we're starting with Percy. It's in his POV."

"Cool, I'll read first," Hermione said stealing the book from Kara's grasp.

"She reminds me of Annabeth," Percy muttered to Thalia.

"Shut up Kelp Head," Thalia muttered.

"Okay, the Lightning Thief, chapter one," Hermione started.

**Chapter 1 I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER**

"COOL!" James exclaimed.

"How do you accidently vaporize someone?" Lupin asked.

Thalia and Nico looked at each other before answering together, "It's Percy."

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.  
**"Who does?" Hazel asked.

"Do you mean half wizard?" Harry asked.

"You'll see," Percy replied.**  
If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:**

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Kara shouted with the other demigods, but Percy and Tiana.

The wizards jumped, "What why?"

"Percy's advise is the worst," Jason said.

"Thanks Jase," Percy sighed.

**close this book right now. **

"Okay," Sirius said.

Before Hermione could react Sirius jumped forward and closed the book. Ariella jumped and glared at him.

"Sirius!" Eva exclaimed with Hermione.

"What?" He asked.

"Sit down," James laughed.

"They're more immature than we are," Percy gaped.

"You mean you?" Nico asked innocently.

Percy cuffed Nico upside the head, "Who asked Chiron why he didn't have his figurine?"

**Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.  
**"Not bad Kelp Head not bad," Thalia complimented.

"Did Pinecone Face actually compliment me?" Percy asked in shock.

"They have worse nicknames then what Harry has," Henrietta said.

"True," Ron admitted.**  
Being a half-blood is dangerous.**

"Yep," Frank said

**It's scary. **

"No doubt," Piper muttered.

**Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.  
**"Yeah…" Leo added, "But at least it's heroic!"

"LEO!" Piper exclaimed slapping him, "That's not very nice."

"Who have you seen die?" Ron asked.

"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed.

"To many people," Percy sighed shaking his head, "A lot are friends."

"Or siblings," Nico added miserably.**  
If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. **

"Muggles are reading this?" George asked, "COOL!"

"Muggles?" Jason asked.

"Mortals," Hermione explained before returning to the book.

**Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.  
**"What never happened?" Lupin asked.

"It should explain," Thalia said quickly.

"I hate those words," Ariella mumbled.

"Ari!" Evangeline exclaimed.

"Yes mom?"

"You had a daughter?" James asked.

"Later James," Eva sighed.**  
But if you recognize yourself in these pages - if you feel something stirring inside - stop reading immediately.**

"Too late," Nico sighed, "We already know most of this."

"Know what?" Henrietta asked.

"Wait for it," Fred said.

"You'll see," Nico replied.

"And there it is," George finished for Fred.

**You might be one of us. **

"Which is?" Lily asked.

"It should explain," Frank sighed.

"Anyone else want to explain?" Lily asked turning to everyone else.

No one answered.

**And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.  
**"Who's they?" James asked not expecting an answer.

"Monsters," Nico mumbled shivering.**  
Don't say I didn't warn you.  
**The marauders and Fred and George smiled evilly, "You didn't warn me!"

"Are they always this immature?" Percy asked.

"Uh, I don't know about Dad but yes," Harry replied.

"He's immature Harry," Lily said.

"Thanks Lily," James sighed.

"It's true Prongs," Sirius laughed.

"Sirius, I think Dad is better than you," Henrietta said daring him to object.**  
My name is Percy Jackson.  
**"No, it's Kelp Head," Thalia said.

"No, it's Kelp-for-Brains," Nico objected.

"Seaweed Brain," Thalia replied.

"Only Annabeth can call me that," Percy countered.

"Peter Johnson," Nico laughed.

"He has a lot of nicknames," George said.

"We should add to them," Fred whispered.**  
I'm twelve years old.**

"No, your sixteen. Almost seventeen," Hazel replied.

**Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.  
**"You're a troubled kid Kelp Head," Thalia said.**  
Am I a troubled kid?  
**"YES!" The demigods shouted.

"Thanks," Percy sighed rolling his eyes, "Why are we sitting on the floor?"

Kara smirked, "Wait for it."

Suddenly a bunch of white couches appeared and they all sat down.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"The Room of Requirement," Kara replied.

"We're in Hogwarts?" George asked, "Do you know what that means Fred?"

"Yes, PRANKS!" Fred replied.

"Let us join!" James shouted.

"Travis and Conner would love them," Percy mumbled, "Let's never let them meet."

"Agreed," Piper said, "What about Leo?"

"To late," Jason added.**  
Yeah. You could say that.  
**"Ha! He admits it!" Thalia said.**  
I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it,**

"Your life isn't short," Nico sighed.

"But it is miserable," Thalia grinned.

"Love you to," Percy sighed.

"No, you love Annie."

**but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan - twenty-eight mental-case kids **

"You do realize that you said you're mental?" Harry asked looking at the son of Poseidon weirdly.

Percy shrugged, not really caring at the moment.

**and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.  
**The demigods grinned at each other. Henrietta noticed a strange scent come off of them. **(A/N Henrietta is a vampire. It will explain in the fifth book of HP) **She was going to talk to Harry about it later.

"That's amazing!" Hermione exclaimed.

"No, it sounds like torture," Henrietta, Harry, Ron, the twins, and the marauders (except Lupin) objected.**  
I know - it sounds like torture. **

Kara started laughing with the demigods.

**Most Yancy field trips were.  
But Mr. Brunner, **

"CHIRON!" Thalia exclaimed.

"SPOILERS!" Kara shouted.

**our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.  
**"He's awesome!" Percy exclaimed.

"I wish he was our teacher," Leo said.

"He is…" Piper said.**  
Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.  
**"You sleep in class?" Hermione asked appalled.

"Now she really sounds like Annabeth," Percy replied in shock, "And yes, I do… not so much anymore though."**  
I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.  
**The demigods laughed, "That won't happen."  
"Why not?" Harry asked ignoring Sirius and James yelling at Percy.

"Percy has the worst luck ever," Thalia replied.

"You got that right," Jason agreed, "I learned that after… you'll find out."

"I'm starting to hate those words," James sighed.**  
Boy, was I wrong.  
**"YEAH!" Sirius shouted.

"Gods Sirius, you're worse than Travis and Connor," Percy groaned.

"Who are Travis and Connor? James asked interested.

"No one!" the demigods exclaimed quickly.

Tiana laughed and Henrietta had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling.**  
See, bad things happen to me on field trips. **

"Like what?" Fred and George asked.

"If it doesn't say I'll tell you," Percy promised.

**Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. **

"Accident?" Tiana asked surprising everyone.

Percy sighed, "It was an accident!"

**I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. **

The marauders started whispering excitedly.

"What were you aiming for?" Ariella asked.

"I think it was a group of tourists in front of the school bus," Percy shrugged.

Ariella rolled her eyes and everyone watched as Sirius and Evangeline looked at her. Henrietta and Harry exchanged glances, wondering why Sirius seemed to know her.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. **

"That's ironic, after all look who his dad is," Nico pointed out.

"Who is his dad?" Lily asked.

"You'll see," Percy answered.

"I hate those words," James sighed.

**And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.  
**"NO! Tell us more!" James and Sirius exclaimed.

"After this chapter," Percy promised.**  
This trip, I was determined to be good.  
**"Good is overrated," James sighed.

"James," Lily said, "There are children here. Two are ours!"

"Sorry."**  
All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded **

"Hey!" Ginny, Henrietta, and Lily exclaimed.

**kleptomaniac **

"What does that mean?" Nico asked.

"Didn't you go to school?" Lily asked.

"Uh, for barely a year," Nico answered, "And you didn't answer my question!"

Lily frowned, "You should go to school."

"Mom's tried," Percy sighed, "He ditches."

**girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.  
**"I love peanut butter, but ketchup reminds me to much of blood," Henrietta sighed.

"And why is that such a terrible thing?" Leo asked.

Henrietta's eyes flashed red for a second before changing back to their normal greenish hazel. It was so fast that everyone, but those that knew, thought that they imagined it.

"Long story," Henrietta answered.**  
Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. **

"I'm sure Grover would like that description," Thalia laughed.

"It was true at the time," Percy objected, "And I didn't write these books."

**He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.  
**"Way to blow your cover," Nico sighed.

"Grover's nice, just not very secretive," Piper explained.**  
Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death **

"Dumbledore would never do anything like that!" James exclaimed.

"Who?" Percy asked, "And my headmaster was Mrs. Orion."

"Orion, like the Greek hero?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

**by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.  
**"That's no fun," Sirius pouted.

"Eh, don't worry. It got entertaining," Percy promised.**  
"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.  
**"You would kill someone?" Harry asked.

"If it meant my family and friends got to live, then yes," Percy answered.

The wizards gaped at him while the demigods sighed.

"Fatal flaw," Thalia sung.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"His fatal flaw… our one flaw that could kill us," Jason explained.**  
Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."  
**"So do I," Kara sighed, "But not in my hair… unless I'm trying to get gum out of it."**  
He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.  
**"And here comes angry Percy," Thalia introduced it.

"Which is never a good Percy," Nico added.

"Do I want to know?" Harry asked.

"No."

"Stop interrupting me!" Hermione exclaimed.

"It can't be worse than an angry Henrietta," Ron shivered.

"Let's try, after a few chapters… after the Minotaur!" Thalia decided.**  
"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.  
**"He…" Nico started.

"Managed…" Thalia added.

"To…"

"Stop…"

"An…"

"Angry…"

"Percy!" They finished together.**  
"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."  
**"Let's see, Tiana?" Fred asked.

"She wasn't there," Percy sighed.

"No, Grover?" George asked.

"He never got in trouble. Mr. Brunner always got him out of it," Percy ignored.

"I KNOW! Percy!" George and Fred exclaimed.**  
Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.**

"You'd hit a girl?" Thalia asked, "What would milady say?"

"It depends… whether or not they're hurting anyone I love," Percy answered.

**In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.  
**"Foreshadowing!" James and Sirius sang.

"Are you sure you're a marauder?" Lily asked Lupin.

"Yeah, I wonder that sometimes too," Lupin answered.

"What's a marauder?" Leo asked.

"It'll show up," Harry promised.**  
Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.  
He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.  
**"Amazing!" Lupin exclaimed.

"It was actually kinda cool," Percy admitted.

Thalia and Nico gasped, "Who are you and what did you do with Percy?"**  
It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.  
**"Longer!" The demigods sang.

"How would you know?" Hermione asked.

"It's a secret," Hazel whispered.**  
He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age.**

"That's so sad," Piper sighed.

"I've met her," Nico whispered silently to Percy, "She's in Elysium."

**He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, **

"Annabeth would be so proud!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Who's Annabeth?" Ariella asked tossing her black wand in the air.

"His girlfriend," Jason said.

**but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.  
**"Scary," Thalia teased.

"It was, you know her too," Percy laughed.

"How would I… oh. Which one?"

"Alecto," Nico whispered to Thalia.**  
Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. **

"Sounds like something Nico would do," Percy teased.

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed.

**She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.  
**"I wonder why?" Henrietta asked.

"Well, they're teaching mental cased kids as Percy puts it," Lily explained, "So that could be why."

"That's not the reason," Percy sighed, "I wonder what happened to poor Mrs. Jameson."**  
From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. **

"That's Nicky," Thalia replied.

"Perce is a sea spawn," Nico joked.  
"That's mean," Hermione said.

"You'll understand later," Jason promised.

**She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.  
**"She still hasn't dropped the honey thing!" Thalia exclaimed.

"No, still hasn't," Nico said, "Imagine having to hear it every time I visit Dad."

"At least you get to visit him," Hazel grumbled.

"At least yours are still alive," Harry mumbled.

Thankfully no one heard him, but Henrietta who nudged him.**  
One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight,**

"I had to address letters till midnight once," Harry grumbled, "It was terrible."

"I feel for you," Percy agreed.

**I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. **

"She isn't," Frank said.

**He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."  
**"That's one way to scare someone," Ginny said.

"The other way is to tie them up then throw them into a storage closet with no lights," Kara added.

Nico shivered, remembering the time she did that to him.**  
Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.  
**"Depressing," James said

"You have no idea," Percy sighed.**  
Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele,**

"That's gross," Ariella said.

**and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"  
**"And knowing Perce, it wasn't quiet," Thalia joked.

Said boy blushed a bright red.**  
It came out louder than I meant it to.  
**"Called it!" Thalia exclaimed.

"And you call us immature," Sirius grumbled.**  
The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.  
**"Yeah, he's awesome!" **  
"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"  
**"Nope," Percy smirked.**  
My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."  
**"No comments," Hermione warned pointing her wand at all of them.**  
Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"  
**"Ten drachmas he gets it wrong," Nico bet.

"Ten denarii he gets it right," Hazel replied.

"You're on."  
"Denarii, drachmas?" Hermione whispered.**  
I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it.**

"Ha, pay up Nico," Hazel said putting out her hand.

"Wait Hazel," Frank warned.

**"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"  
**"That one, it's always that one," Thalia grumbled.**  
"Yes,"**

"Give them here," Hazel said.

Grumbling, Nico gave Hazel ten golden drachmas.

**Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."**

"Because he thought they would taste good," Fred joked.

Thunder boomed outside causing everyone, but the demigods to jump.

"You might want to be careful what you say around us," Percy warned.**  
"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and - "  
**"GOD!" Thalia exclaimed, "PERSEUS ALLEN JACKSON NO WONDER THEY HATE YOU!"

"Thalia, I get corrected," Percy sighed, "And who told you my middle name?"

"Tiana."**  
"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.  
"Titan," I corrected myself.**

"More like he corrected you," Hermione pointed out before continuing.

**"And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. **

"Who mistakes their child as a rock?" Lily asked appalled.

"Kronos."

**And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters - "  
**"Nice choice of words," Sirius said.

"DAD!" Ariella exclaimed.

"Eva, Sirius we are having a talk later," James said.

"Sure James," Eva sighed, "And I'm older than you!"

"By a few months!"**  
"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.  
" - and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."  
**"You just summed up a huge fight into one sentence," Jason gaped.

"What can I say, I've got talents," Percy grinned.

"Yeah, but it's the biggest war in history of Greece," Hermione added, "And you summed it up."**  
Some snickers from the group.  
**"But he got it right?" Harry asked.

"Not all muggles are nice Harry, like Petunia for instance," Lily pointed out.

"And not everything magical is wonderful," Henrietta sighed.**  
Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"  
**"It could, if you work at a museum," Lupin pointed out.

"Or if you're like us," Leo added.**  
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"  
**"In case you're a half-blood," Percy answered.**  
"Busted," Grover muttered.  
"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.  
**"Henrietta…" Fred started.

"Don't even think about it," Henrietta growled her eyes flashing red and then back to greenish hazel.**  
At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.  
**"More like horse," Nico laughed slightly.**  
I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."  
**"Now I do!" Percy exclaimed.

"You sure?" Thalia joked.

"Maybe."**  
"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

"That sounds like Dumbledore," Harry laughed.

"Mr. Brunner is terrible at changing topics," Percy shook his head.**  
The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.  
**"Don't say anything," Percy warned turning to Thalia.

"I wasn't going to," Thalia pouted, "I might be a hunter, but my favorite cousins are boys and then there's my brother."

"Hunter?" James asked.

"It will be explained, in either the second or third book," Percy said.**  
Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."  
I knew that was coming.  
**"You could replace Rachel!" Jason joked.

"Eh, no. I wouldn't want to not be able to have Annabeth," Percy replied.**  
I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"  
**"You used your manners!" Piper exclaimed.

"I'm assuming that doesn't happen often," Ariella sighed leaning on Sirius.**  
Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go - intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.  
**"Just about everything," Percy corrected himself.**  
"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.  
**"I have," Percy whispered, "I just wish I could tell him."

"You will," Thalia said, "Even if it means I have to take you from the Underworld myself."**  
"About the Titans?"  
**The demigods face-palmed and Jason snickered.**  
"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."  
**"How does your life go with your studies?" Lupin asked.

"It'll explain," Percy sang.**  
"Oh."  
**"And that is Percy's vocabulary!" Leo exclaimed.

"LEO!"

"He needs to expand it," Hermione muttered before reading again.**  
"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."  
**"Pressure," Harry sang.

"You have no idea," Percy sighed.**  
I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.  
**"It's for the best," Thalia sighed.**  
I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" **

The wizards snickered as Percy shook his head.

**and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. **

"I could do that," Hermione and Lupin exclaimed.

"You guys sound like my girlfriend," Percy chuckled.

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C - **

"That might make it hard," Hermione sympathized.

"You have no idea," Percy sighed.

**in my life. No - he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.  
**"Too true," the demigods agreed.

"You guys all have ADHD and dyslexia?" Harry asked.

"Yeah."**  
I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.  
**"I asked him, he did," Percy whispered to the others.**  
He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.  
**"What was your lunch?" Sirius asked.

Percy frowned, "All I remember is that I had an apple."

"Great, now I'm hungry," James mumbled, "Seriously Sirius?"

Sirius started laughing and Kara cuffed the back of his head.**  
The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.  
**"Interesting," Leo said rubbing his fake beard.

"Leo, you don't have a beard and you never will," Jason comforted.

"Thanks for crushing my dreams Jase," Leo pretended to cry.

"Ugh," Ariella groaned, "Please make him stop and continue reading."**  
Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, and wildfires from lightning strikes.**

"REALLY DAD?" Thalia asked shouting at the sky.

Again thunder boomed causing Thalia to roll her eyes and the demigods to snicker.

**I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.  
**"Percy, your turn," Thalia said.

"Eh," Percy shrugged, "My dad had a good reason."**  
Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse,**

"Daughter of Mercury maybe," Jason whispered, "Maybe Hermes."

"No, she's mortal," Percy whispered back.

**and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.  
**"Of course," Percy sighed.**  
Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school - the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.  
**"PERSEUS JACKSON! NEVER CALL YOURSELF A LOSER FREAK AGAIN!" Thalia ordered.

"Will you stop shouting?" Percy asked, "I would love to have my hearing at the end of this."

"NO! NOT IF YOU KEEP DOING STUPID THINGS!"

"Gods Thal's, my hearing is leaving me."**  
"Detention?" Grover asked.  
**"Nope!" Nico exclaimed happily.

"Alright, who gave Nico sugar?" Percy asked.

"No one! I gave myself sugar, I found this big bowl of candies on the ground next to me so I ate it! See!"

Nico showed Percy an empty crystal bowl that has crumbs in it. Percy sighed and rubbed his forehead, it's going to be a long night.**  
"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean - I'm not a genius."  
**"Truer words haven't been spoken," Thalia agreed.

"Shut up Thal's," Percy mumbled.

Harry and the wizards watched in shock as Percy laughed as Thalia tried to hit him.**  
Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"  
**The room erupted in laughter.**  
I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.  
**"Percy not having an appetite," Nico exclaimed, "That's unheard of!"

Percy sighed, "Nico why don't you run around?"

"Okay!"

Nico ran around the Room of Requirement and the others watched amused for a while before they continued reading.**  
I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. ****_She's expected me to try harder especially since my sister disappeared._**

"Tiana went missing. When?" Jason asked.

"Actually, she went missing at six," Percy explained, "After we had a fight."

"I found her when she was seven. We ran around until we got sent to a Foster Place where she got adopted," Leo added.

"Then I found her at nine," Percy added, "She'll show up after the Arch."

The wizards looked at Tiana and saw her roll her eyes at her brother then gesture at Hermione to continue reading.

**She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. **

"You're worse than I am," Piper exclaimed, "And I stole a BMW!"

"Ha! So you admit you stole it!" Leo shouted happily.

"You stole a BMW?" Lily asked.  
"It was to get my dad to notice me," Piper sighed.

"That's terrible parenting. What about your mother?"  
"She's never around."

Before Lily could say anything Nico ran through the circle causing everyone to fall forward and the demigods to curse in Ancient Greek.

**I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.  
**"Mama's boy!" Fred and George shouted.

"And what's wrong with that?" Percy asked.**  
Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.  
**"OH! Idea!" Leo started writing something on a piece of paper he found.**  
I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends - I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists - and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.  
**The demigods, that knew Grover, started cursing Nancy.**  
"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.  
**"Percy, you ruined Cheetos for me," Leo frowned.

"What are Cheetos?" Hazel asked.

Frank started to explain while the wizards looked at each other.**  
I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.  
**"Cue amazing Percy!" Nico shouted jumping on a bed he wished for.

"Don't fall on your head!" Lily shouted.

"He'll be fine Lily," Percy promised.

Lily frowned and James put an arm around her.**  
I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"  
**"How?" Sirius asked gaping.

"Accidental magic maybe?" Lupin questioned.**  
Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.  
**"Oo, scary," Nico said with every jump.

He seemed to be getting tired, but he was still very hyper.**  
Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see - "  
**"What?" Sirius asked getting excited.**  
" - the water - "  
**"What about it?" Fred and George asked.**  
" - like it grabbed her - "  
**All the wizards were gaping and Nico came back and sat next to Percy. His dark eyes dropping.**  
I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.  
**"Nothing has changed," Percy sighed squeezing his cousin's shoulder. **  
As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester.**

"Sounds like it," Harry said.

"Will you guys stop interrupting?" Hermione asked.

"Sorry Mione," Ron apologized.

**"Now, honey - "  
**"Stupid… honey," Nico mumbled sounding tired.**  
"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."  
**"NO!" The marauders and twins shouted, "NEVER GUESS YOUR PUNISHMENT!"

Percy jumped, "They sound like Apollo and Hermes."**  
That wasn't the right thing to say.  
**"Of course not," James grumbled.**  
"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.  
**"No, don't go with the creepy teacher," Ginny grumbled.**  
"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

"Go Grover!" they shouted.**  
I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.  
**"Not exactly, but close enough," Nico yawned.

Percy was waiting for Nico to drift off, like he always did after a sugar rush.**  
She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.  
**The marauders hold in their laughter so that Nico can sleep. **  
"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.  
**"Grover Underwood," Harry mused while Hermione slapped him.**  
"But - "  
"You - will - stay - here."  
**Nico's eyes finally close as he drifted off. Percy leaned Nico's head on his shoulder.**  
Grover looked at me desperately.  
**"He does that to both of us," Thalia groaned, "It gets annoying after a while."**  
"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."  
"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."  
**"It makes it sound like she's a dog," Ron laughs.

"More like bat," Percy whispered to the demigods.**  
Nancy Bobofit smirked.  
I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

Thalia and the demigods shiver.

"And that's not even his worst," Thalia admitted.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.  
How'd she get there so fast?  
**"That's what I'm wondering," Lupin groaned.

"Aw, is Moony upset he doesn't understand?" Sirius teased.

"Yes."**  
I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. **

"That's one unusual way to say it," Lily decided.

"It's Percy." Thalia said as though it explained everything.

**The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.  
**"Don't be too sure boy," Moody said.

"When did you get here?" Harry asked shocked.

"Five minutes, thirty-two seconds ago," Moody grumbled.

"Uh, who's he?" Leo asked.

"Mad-Eye Moody," Hermione said.

"Why is he called Mad-Eye?" Piper asked gripping her dagger.

Moody swiveled his eye towards her and the demigods gave off a little yelp.**  
I wasn't so sure.  
**"Good job boy," Moody said.**  
I went after Mrs. Dodds.  
**"Not smart," Lily groaned.**  
Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.  
**"What book was it?" Hermione asked.

"I think it was a book about Greek Mythology," Percy replied.**  
I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.  
**"How is she moving so fast?" Ginny asked.

"Maybe she's apparating?" Harry suggested.

"No, she's not apparating," Henrietta gasped.

Lupin groaned as Henrietta figured it out.**  
Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"You wish," Henrietta mumbled.

"I'm guessing you figured it out," Percy smiled.

"Wait."

Henrietta crawled over and whispered something in his ear and he nodded. She smiled and sat down next to her brother.**  
But apparently that wasn't the plan.  
**"Never is, remember Nico's stepmom?" Percy asked Thalia.

"Yeah, and Bob," Thalia said.

"Wait for the dam pun."

"It's dam stupid."

"But what about the dam restroom?"

Thalia and Percy burst out laughing, leaving the others in the dark. Nico stirred and they went silent.**  
I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.  
**"Let me guess, no one was there," Henrietta sighed.**  
Except for us, the gallery was empty.  
**"Yeah, clue one," Leo said.**  
Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.  
**"Clue two," Leo added.**  
Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...  
**"Clue three," Jason said before Leo could say anything, "We get it."**  
"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.  
**"It's me! Of course there're problems!" Percy exclaimed.

"Point there Kelp-for-Brains," Thalia agreed.**  
I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."  
**The demigods looked at Percy incredibly, "You did the safe thing."

"Yes."

"What have you done with Percy?"

"Nothing." **  
She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"  
**"I couldn't steal a pizza from my stepfather's pizza party! Do you think I could have stolen something that big?" Percy shouted at the sky.

Thunder boomed and he rolled his eyes at the sky.

"I'm pretty sure Paul doesn't throw pizza parties," Thalia said.

"Not Paul, his first step dad," Kara explained when Percy didn't answer.**  
The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.  
She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.  
**"Yeah right, some of my teachers tried to kill me," Harry said.

"To true Harry, to true," Percy agreed patting the boys back.**  
I said, "I'll - I'll try harder, ma'am."  
**"That made no sense," Henrietta mumbled.**  
Thunder shook the building.  
**Like it did now.

"REALLY DAD!" Jason and Thalia shouted.**  
"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."  
**"What is she talking about?" Lupin asked thinking really hard.**  
I didn't know what she was talking about.  
**"No one does, except it seems you guys," Sirius said gesturing to the demigods.

"I do! And it explains so much," Henrietta piped up.

"What do you mean?"  
She shot Sirius a look that clearly meant 'later'.**  
All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. **

The boys were drooling and the marauders were seemingly discussing something.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. **

"They should," Hermione grumbled.

**Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.  
**"Stop! Annabeth made me read it!" Percy exclaimed before they said anything, "Thankfully it was in Ancient Greek too."

He muttered the last part to the demigods.

"Latin's better," Jason replied.

They didn't know that Sirius, Lupin, and Henrietta had heard all the things they whispered and thought they couldn't hear. Lupin finally realized what they were and asked Henrietta, who nodded.**  
"Well?" she demanded.  
**"Demanding things doesn't always work," Moody grumbled.

"And you would know how?" Henrietta asked, "Never mind, I don't want to know."**  
"Ma'am, I don't..."  
"Your time is up," she hissed.  
**"That wasn't long enough," James complained.

Lily kissed his cheek causing Harry and Henrietta to look at each other and shudder. It was weird seeing their parents around twenty years old and kissing.**  
Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings.**

"Wait what! Hermione read that again," Sirius ordered.

Hermione did and Sirius leaned back on the white couch again apparently lost in thought.

**She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.  
**"Slice you to ribbons," Lily said slowly.

"Yeah, everyday thing for me," Percy replied shrugging, "Most people threaten to kill me."

Lily glared at him, "That's not a good thing."

"It's normal for us," Thalia comforted, "That's our lives. We pretty much fight for our lives every day."**  
Then things got even stranger.  
**"How?" Sirius asked putting his head in his hands.**  
Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.  
**"A PEN! HOW WILL THAT HELP?" Lily exclaimed.

"That pen has saved our lives more times than I can count. Now calm down Lily," Percy said.

Once Lily had calmed down, Hermione continued.**  
"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.  
**"What ho," Sirius snickered.

"No," James said, "Just no."**  
Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.  
**Everyone watched as the wizards and demigods tensed up.

"Hello! I'm right here alive and well," Percy waved causing the demigods to snicker.**  
With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear.**

Percy suddenly waved at the air.

"Oh, forgot to mention. Percy, Harry all the pain you feel in the books you feel in real life," Kara smirked, "Just to spice it up a bit."

"I hate you," Percy grumbled.

"Hey, hate's a strong word."

**I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword - Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.  
**Lily visibly relaxed. The others found it funny how she was becoming motherly to all the kids.**  
Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.  
**Then she tensed up again.**  
My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.  
**"You almost dropped Riptide?" Thalia asked.

"I was startled," Percy said.**  
She snarled, "Die, honey!"  
**"She still hasn't dropped the honey part?" Fred asked.

"This lady's got issues," George agreed.**  
And she flew straight at me.  
**Everyone tensed and Percy threw his hands up in the air. Nico snuggled close to Percy, still asleep.**  
Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.  
**"How is that natural?" Jason asked.

The demigods nodded.

"Uh, it just is?" Percy asked.

"Well, he is the best swordsman in three hundred years," Thalia explained.

The wizards gaped as Percy tried to deny it.**  
The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!  
**"Water references," Evangeline sighed.

Ariella rolled her eyes and painted her nails red.**  
Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.  
**"Creepy," Harry shivered.

"You have no idea," Percy sighed.**  
I was alone.  
**"Creepier," Fred and George chorused.**  
There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.  
**"The Mist is still affecting you," Thalia stated.

"At that point I was ready to believe anything," Percy sighed.

"The Mist?" Lily asked.

"That's it, after this chapter you guys are stating your titles. All of them Percy," Kara said gesturing to the demigods.

Percy tried to object by Kara wouldn't listen.**  
Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.  
**"Nobody was there," Percy snickered.

"Percy, is that an inside joke that no one understands?" Thalia asked.

"Annabeth would," Percy sighed.

Kara snapped her fingers, "That's who's missing."

Suddenly a blonde haired girl appeared.

"Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed, "Nobody is finally here!"

Annabeth started laughing and the wizards introduced themselves.**  
My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.  
**"Aren't magic mushrooms a type of drug?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah," Henrietta, Hermione, and Annabeth answered.**  
Had I imagined the whole thing?  
**"Nope!" the demigods chorused.**  
I went back outside.  
**"I'm in the mood for cookies," Sirius said.

A bowl full of blue cookies appeared next to him, Sirius didn't bother wonder why they were blue but he still ate them.**  
It had started to rain.  
**Thalia glared at the sky but said nothing.**  
Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."  
**"Who?" everyone asked.

Hermione snickered as she read the next line.**  
I said, "Who?"  
**"Oh no! We've been infected by Percyitis everyone run!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Shush, Nico's still asleep," Percy shushed.

Nico rolled over on Percy's lap and Lily cooed.**  
"Our teacher. Duh!"  
**"Wait, but wasn't that Mrs. Dodd's?" Sirius asked.

"The Mist," Lupin explained, "It shrouded the muggles sight."

"Oh, wait what?"

"All will be explained," Kara promised.**  
I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.  
**"Why her? Why not Grover?" Ginny asked.

"I was confused," Percy replied.**  
She just rolled her eyes and turned away.  
**"That's mean, she should at least explain it," Lily grumbled.

"Its fine Lily," Percy comforted, "This was like five years ago."**  
I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.  
**"Ha, Goat Boy cannot lie to save his life," Thalia said.

"I know," Percy agreed.

"That's not very nice," Ginny said.**  
He said, "Who?"  
But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.  
**"Number one rule in lying," James started.

"We are not going to ruin the kids minds James," Lily glared.

"Too late, Travis and Connor has everyone that goes into their cabin read a book about lying. It's like the size of a dictionary," Percy said.

"Not smart," Ron whispered looking at Lily's glare towards Percy, which he met head on.**  
"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."  
**"Very," Thalia said.**  
Thunder boomed overhead.  
I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.  
**"That's a great trick," Leo complimented.

"You do know he's not here?" Annabeth asked Leo.

"Yeah, so?"**  
I went over to him.  
He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."  
**"Actually, it's mine," Percy said pulling a celestial bronze pen from his pocket and holding it close.

"Can you write with that?" Harry asked.

Thalia was about to say no, but then Percy answered.

"Yeah, actually I can," Percy answered.

"You can?" Thalia asked surprised.

"How do you think we got the note to camp?" Annabeth asked Thalia.

The wizards were gaping at the demigods.**  
I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.  
**"Then why did you go over to him?" Ron asked.

"To get answers," Percy answered.**  
"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"  
**"In Hades," Nico mumbled before drifting off again.

"How?" Harry started.

"Don't ask, most of us do that," Jason answered.**  
He stared at me blankly. "Who?"  
**"Now Mr. Brunner can lie!" James congratulated.

"JAMES!" Lily shouted slapping him.**  
"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."  
**"The one that you vaporized," Ariella said looking at her red nails.

"Ari!" Evangeline exclaimed.**  
He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"That's it," Hermione said putting down the book.

"So, introduce yourselves… I guess you don't have to do all your titles, as it will be said eventually," Kara ordered, "I'll go first."

Kara stood up, "I am Karen 'Kara' Smith daughter of Poseidon, legacy of Hades, Champion of Aphrodite, Hypnos, Hestia, and Hecate. I've also been immortal for over three hundred years **(A/N not really, just didn't want it so that Poseidon broke the oath again)**."

"Hazel Levesque daughter of Pluto one of the seven girlfriend of Frank."

"Frank Zhang son of Mars legacy of Poseidon shape shifter, one of the seven boyfriend of Hazel."

"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter one of the seven boyfriend of Piper brother of Thalia."

"Piper Mclean daughter of Aphrodite charm speaker one of the seven girlfriend of Jason."

"Leo Valdez son of Hephaestus fire user one of the seven loner."

Piper and Jason glared at said boy who shrugged.

"Thalia Grace daughter of Zeus savior of Olympus lieutenant of Artemis sister of Jason."

"Annabeth Chase daughter of Athena savior of Olympus one of the seven girlfriend of Percy."

"Perseus 'Percy' Jackson son of Poseidon savior of Olympus one of the seven boyfriend of Annabeth."

"I've got to go hunt, if you know what I mean," Henrietta said, "Lupin want to come… if we can leave?"

Kara sighed, "You can leave. Also that's not all of the demigods titles, and they will all be said soon. Now some of you guys want to talk so you can before the next chapter. You have five minutes. Now go!"

**Me: This is fun! I love having Lily mothering all of the kids.**

**Harry: Well, it's kinda weird.**

**Percy: Especially since my mom does the same thing.**

**Henrietta: *bares fangs* How will she react to my bloody little problem.**

**Thalia: That's creepy, and I don't know. It's your mother.**

**Henrietta: *sighs* Who died when I was one, even if I have a perfect memory it's not long enough to know.**

**Me: That's sad… **

**Harry: Okay then, how do we end this.**

**Me: Ask for reviews.**

**Harry: Okay, please review. Then you will learn more about the characters.**


	2. THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH

**Me: Someone asked to know more about the characters so you'll learn more about them during this chapter.**

**Ariella: Really?**

**Me: Aren't you a bundle of joy?**

**Nico: That's the same with me.**

**Henrietta: Everyone's going to learn about me now.**

**Me: Yep! Imagine the demigods' reactions. O.o**

**Percy: I think we've broken the author.**

**Me: O.o**

**Ariella: candyland7 owns nothing but her OC's.**

**Me: O.o**

**3****rd**** Person POV**

Ariella sat on a white chair in a corner. The others went over to a white table and started talking. The wizards and demigods decided to get to know each other better while Sirius, James, and Evangeline had their talk. The only one that wasn't with someone was Ariella, she sat alone on her Iphone. The demigods kept glancing at her.

"So, Henrietta. What did you mean by ketchup reminded you too much like blood?" Leo asked.

Said girl looked at her brother, who shrugged. It was her secret. Her choice whether or not to tell people.

"Uh," Henrietta started rubbing the back of her neck, "Can we wait for my dad, Sirius, and Evangeline?" she asked

"Sure, should we get Ariella to?" Percy asked.

"Probably," Sirius said walking forward, "But from what I know of her, she won't want to come."

"Why not?" Lily asked, "Being away from other people isn't that good."

They watched as the demigods sent a glance to Nico, who poked the ground with his foot.

"Well, I know the perfect person to get her over here," Percy joked, "Go get her Nico."

"What? Why me?" Nico asked.

"You two have a lot in common," Percy explained, "Now go!"

Nico walked over to her, grumbling. Raising an eyebrow, she looked up from her Iphone.

"What do you want?" she asked

"Well, Henrietta's going to tell us about her. She won't talk until you come," Nico explained, "I was sent to go get you."

Her hazel eyes narrowed, "Well, I'm perfectly comfortable on my own. Now leave."

She went back to her phone and Nico sent a helpless look to the others. Percy just waved him on.

"You don't have to talk, just be there," Nico added.

Ariella glared at him, "Do you not know the meaning of leave?"

"Well, I get what it means. I don't know the actual definition."

"It means, go away."

The girl pulled out her wand this time and put it in her hand. Nico wasn't sure if it was a threat because it looked like a stick to him. Shrugging, he was about to walk away when Ariella spoke up again. This time it wasn't snappy or rude. In fact it sounded as though her barriers had gone down.

"Why do they want me anyways. It's not like I'm anybody they know," Ariella said.

"We figured that you might want to know more about us," Nico explained.

"No one wants to know about me, I generally don't exist. Ask Fred or George, I don't even have a birth certificate."

"We all have something different about us, don't worry."

This time, Ariella joined the others. Sirius gave her a hug and they all waited for Henrietta to start.

"In the summer before my fifth year in Hogwarts, which you will learn about, I was bit," Henrietta started, she took off her black jacket revealing her white tank top.

On her pale arms was scars, they were deep and whiter then the rest of her body. There were only two scars though, that went down her bicep.

"By a vampire," she finished.

Opening her mouth, showing her white teeth, two fangs grew downwards and her eyes turned a blood red. Lily and James watched sadly and the demigods got in a defensive stance. Thinking that she was an Empousa. Harry gently put a hand on his sister's shoulder and slowly her eyes turned normal and the fangs disappeared. She was now her normal self.

"My turn I guess," Evangeline said, "I was raised in France, getting separated from James when I started school. I went to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I never went home until after my last year there. When I went back Sirius was there. After their seventh year I got pregnant with Ariella, Sirius and my daughter. I died in childbirth."

"So, you're dead," James said.

"James!" Lily hissed.

"What? She's my sister."

"Wait," Harry said, "So Ariella's our cousin?"

"Yeah," Eva said.

"Okay," Kara said, "Ariella's turn. Then we will go to Tiana."

Ariella glared at Kara who disappeared in the shadows. Sighing she pushed her black and red hair behind her ear before starting.

"I was raised until I was three by Dad who disappeared and left me with Kreacher. I was always depressed when I went to sleep because my dad didn't return. Turning seven I managed to leave and that's when I bought the hair dye and dyed my hair with the red tips. Using magic I made it so that whenever I cut my hair it would have red tips. It was at that outing that I found out that the dementors got dad's memories of me and would always come for me. I didn't leave the house often. At eleven I went to Diagon alley and got my wand. There I met Fred and George," Ariella said.

"Ha! So we do know you!" Fred exclaimed.

"Yes, now shush. All I told them was my name before going back home. At fifteen I got a letter from Dad, telling me that he escaped and would return to me soon. I didn't believe it, since I gave up hope of him ever returning. He did return though, but then at seventeen, he disappeared again and hasn't returned."

The others gave her looks of sympathy, which she glared at. Not wanting sympathy. Sirius' grip tightened on her shoulder throughout the story. By now it was painful. Ariella wrenched her arm out of his grip and rubbed her shoulder. They all waited for Tiana to start her story. Instead, Percy spoke for her.

"Tiana is my sister, even though I don't know much about her as we were separated when she was six," Percy began, "I'm going to need your help with this Tia."

Tiana gave her brother a look which he deciphered.

"She was trained with Chaos to be an assassin. When she was seven she left and found… Leo?" Percy continued, "They ran away from foster homes until she got injured and they were taken. She was adopted, against her will, and taken by Mr. Eldon. The rest of her story should be in here."

Kara reappeared, "Okay, time to read! Annabeth probably wants to so here."

**Chapter 2 THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH**

"Socks of death," Sirius said slowly, "Okay then."  
"Awesome chapter titles Perce, where do you come up with these?" Leo asked.

"I don't know. I didn't write these," Percy replied, "Who's the author anyways?"

"Rick Riordan," Annabeth said.

"Uncle Rick is amazing! But a troll," Kara groaned, "He writes the best books but can be so mean!"

"I know him! Son of Mercury with the blessing of Minerva! I told him all of our tales and joked about him writing a book about them. Guess he did," Percy said thoughtfully. **(A/N head cannon right there!)**

"Oh!" Jason exclaimed, "I remember him."

"Can we continue?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah."

**I was used to the occasional weird experience,**

"Perks of being a demigods. You get used to weird things," Piper said.

**but usually they were over quickly. **

Everyone shot him sad looks, which he ignored by kissing Annabeth's cheek over and over again. She eventually pushed him to the side so that she could read.

**This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle.**

"Aww, can little Percy not handle hallucinations?" Fred and George joked.

"First of all, I can easily skewer you," Percy explained holding up his pen, "And second of all, why is everyone calling me little."

"You're younger than us," Fred and George chorused.

"Boys," Lily scolded.

"Sorry Lily," they all said looking down.

**For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. **

The marauders, twins, and Leo all smirked and started talking.

"Now I'm worried," Percy whispered to Henrietta who was next to him.

"You should be," Henrietta replied.

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr - a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip**

"What's wrong with being perky?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing," Percy said at the same time that Ariella and Nico said 'everything'.

**- had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.  
**"That must suck," Jason agreed.**  
Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.  
**"You are," Fred and George said.

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed, "You don't even know me that well."

Lily sighed, "If they're anything like James they won't need to."**  
It got so I almost believed them - Mrs. Dodds had never existed.  
**"Wait, he said almost," Henrietta pointed out.**  
Almost.  
**"She called it," Ron sighed.

"Ravenclaw," Henrietta said, "Of course I did."

"Ten Galleon's its Grover," James bet.

"No one is stupid enough to take that bet," Thalia sighed. **  
But Grover couldn't fool me. **

"Don't," Lupin warned.

James pouted as everyone laughed, including Ariella.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate,**

"Number one rule in lying, don't hesitate!" James exclaimed.

"We need to give them the book James," Sirius decided.

"You will do no such thing," Lily hissed, "The kids don't need to be corrupted."

The demigods sighed, Travis and Connor already made all the campers read the lying rule book. It has everything they need to know.

**then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.  
**"Grover," Kara shook her head having met the satyr before.**  
Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.  
**"No duh," Thalia shook her head.

Lily looked at Thalia, "How is it, that you guys are so close. But you make fun of each other?"

"We're cousins, but it's like we're brother and sister."

"Hey! What about me?" Nico asked pouting.

"You're like our annoying younger brother," Percy joked, "But you're dating my sister!"

"Wait, he's your cousin but he's dating your sister," Lily confirmed.

"Yeah. Our family is messed up. Like Piper's mom is cheating on Leo's dad with Frank's Greek dad."

Lily stared at him for a moment before leaning into James, who happily put his arms around her.**  
I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.  
**The other's (but Ariella) sympathized with him. They always had that.**  
The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. **

"That's because your moods seem to change with the ocean, and I'm sure that helped with the storms and such," Annabeth said thoughtfully.

"Possibly, I noticed that whenever I got angrier the storms started getting wilder," Percy decided.

**One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. **

"I had forgotten about that," Ron muttered.

"Forgotten what?" Harry asked.

"That it was a boarding school."  
"Yancy Academy," Percy called, "And yes, I can hear you."

**A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. **

Percy chuckled, "That was my fault."

"Same with Mt. Saint Helens," Kara added.

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.  
**"Dad's fault," Percy said to all the looks he got.

"Oh."**  
I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time.**

"Percy," everyone groaned.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing, we're just groaning," Thalia replied.

**My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. **

"What?" the none muggle born or raised asked.

"It's our way of doing it. A is the highest, the B, C, D, F, and sometimes I," Annabeth explained.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. **

"Don't say anything Kara," Percy warned.

"Wasn't planning to," Kara replied.

"Fights are good," Sirius said, "But getting in trouble is bad."

"Unless you're with your friends," James added.

"You two are worse than Kara," Percy sighed.

**I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.  
**"Good boy," James said rubbing Percy's head.

"Didn't you do that to Sirius?" Lily asked a faint smile playing on her face.

"Yeah."

"Don't encourage him James," Annabeth sighed.**  
Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, **

"Nico!" The wizards exclaimed.

"Not me, I was in the Lotus Casino," Nico replied.

"Besides, Nico is only like twelve, thirteen," Percy replied.

**asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, **

"First of all, I'm dyslexic," Percy said before the others could do anything, "Second of all, I get Chiron to transfer it to Ancient Greek or Latin now."

"And how does that help you?" Lily asked, "You would put it down as Ancient Greek or Latin."

"No, I can translate it to English. Den eínai óti to dikaío̱ma ti̱n'Annampeth?" Percy asked, "Iason: quid tibi?"

"Yes Percy, that is right," Annabeth replied.

"Yep," Jason said.

The wizards stared at them in confusion while the demigods laughed.

**I snapped. I called him an old sot. **

Everyone started laughing while Percy stared in confusion.

**I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.  
**"I still don't know," Percy pouted.

"It means old drunkard," Lily explained.**  
The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.  
**"Yippee!" Percy exclaimed.

Lily stared at him, "How is this good news?"

"You'll see."**  
Fine, I told myself. Just fine.  
**Lily again stared at him as though he was crazy. She didn't say anything this time.**  
I was homesick.  
**"Ah," Lily said, "I guess that makes sense."**  
I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather, his stupid poker parties, ****_and the absence of my sister_****.  
**Tiana slapped him, hard, and glared. He shrugged and raised his hands up in surrender.

"It was tuff," he admitted.

"Stop," she ordered.

Henrietta gave Harry an odd look, which he ignored.**  
And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. **

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, nothing about the people though," Percy replied.

"What about Grover?" Lily asked.

"He's not a person."

"Percy!"

"Next chapter… I think."

**The view of the woods out my dorm window, **

"Aw, crushing on the dryads are you know Percy?" Thalia joked.

"No… remember this was before I knew."

"Still," Leo said, "And besides. The dryads are hot."

That earned Leo a smack from all the girls in the room.

**the Hudson River in the distance, **

"Of course," Henrietta said, "You have the sea in your blood. I can smell it."

"That's creepy," Percy replied, "You can smell the sea in my blood."

"You get used to it," Harry promised.

"It will take a while," Hermione added.

**the smell of pine trees. **

"You missed me," Thalia wiped a fake tear.

"Wait, what do pine trees have to do with you?" Lily asked.

A shadow passed across Thalia's face, "You'll see."

**I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.  
**"He wouldn't be there," Thalia replied.

"Why not?" Lily asked.

"You'll see."

"I hate those two words," Ariella grumbled.**  
I'd miss Latin class, too **

"It was the only class that I actually understood," Percy grumbled.

**- Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.  
**"Aw, teacher's pet," Evangeline teased.

"Not really," Percy replied.

Immediately the demigods objected.**  
As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

"You studied?" Thalia asked.

"Good boy," Annabeth said and kissed his cheek.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. **

The demigods became grave and Annabeth sighed.

**I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.  
**"Good," Nico said with finality.**  
The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. **

Henrietta glared at him, her eyes now red.

"Dude, your sister scares me," Percy told Harry.

"Me too."

**Words had started swimming **

"Again! The water references!" Thalia exclaimed.

"You haven't mentioned it until now," Lily replied.

"That's right," Lupin agreed.

**off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards.**

The boys of the seven and Nico shuddered, remembering the time Percy took them skateboarding. Percy was the only one that actually skateboarded.

**There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

"I do now!" Percy exclaimed happily, "Charon likes Italian suits."

"Dude, he annoys me so much!" Nico replied banging his head on the white table they were sitting around.

"Nico, honey, stop banging your head," Lily said.

"She's mothering us," Percy whispered to Annabeth.

"Well, her children are hear. Natural motherly instincts," Annabeth whispered back.

**or Polydictes and Polydeuces. **

"Still don't," Percy whispered causing Henrietta, who heard him, give a faint smile.

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.  
**"I meant spelling!" Percy exclaimed, "And when I did it, I realized that I spelled it right."**  
I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.  
**"I still hate the Stoll's for that," Percy whispered to Annabeth.

"What about the Stoll's?" a voice behind them asked.

They turned to see a girl in a hunters outfit with olive skin, a boy with sandy blonde hair and a scar, a boy with callused hands, and a girl with black hair and blue eyes. Nico covered his mouth staring at the olive skinned girl. Percy and Annabeth turned away as though it hurt them to look at the group. Kara frowned and sighed, she knew that it would hurt them.

"Introduce yourselves, full titles. Hello again Bianca," Kara smiled.

"Again Kara?" the olive skinned girl asked, "I just left the other gig."

"Same with us," Percy admitted.

"Just do it," Kara ordered.

"Bianca di Angelo daughter of Hades sister of Nico di Angelo and hunter of Artemis."  
"Luke Castellan son of Hermes previous host of Kronos."

"Charles Beckendorf son of Hephaestus."

"Silena Beauregard daughter of Aphrodite… spy."

The wizards re-introduced themselves and the seven also got introduced. Nobody mentioned Nico and Bianca's tearful reunion, the new comers learned what had happened so far, and they started reading again. **  
I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **

"Older," Luke murmured.

**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.  
**"So much pressure," Beckendorf sighed.**  
I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.  
**"That will ruin your manicure," Silena sighed.

"Silena, I am a guy. I do not do manicures," Percy comforted.**  
I'd never asked a teacher for help before. **

"Explains so much," Thalia joked.

"I used to, they always told me that I would fail anyways and it was useless to try," Percy replied.

"That's terrible teaching," Lily sighed, "But it's true in muggle schools.

"She's been mothering us," Leo, Piper, Annabeth, and Nico explained to the new ones.

**Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. **

"That didn't happen," Percy sighed.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, "Mr. Brunner seems nice mate."

"That's not the reason."

**At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam.**

"You have no faith in yourself," Lupin scolded.

"I didn't know his self-esteem was this low," Annabeth thought to herself.

"What are you thinking?" Percy asked.

"Nothing."

Ginny shook her head slightly.

**I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.  
**"Aw!" Piper and Silena squealed.

"Piper," Leo whispered, "Your Aphrodite is showing."

Piper shivered and continued to listen to Annabeth.**  
I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.  
**"Sounds creepy," Sirius said.

"Not helping Dad," Ariella whispered to him.**  
I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."  
**"Gasp!" James exclaimed, "Best friend talking to a teacher! Not good!"

"James!" Lily and Evangeline scolded.**  
I froze.  
**"Khione," Leo growled.

"Not literally Leo," Percy replied.**  
I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

Nico gave him an incredulous look.

"Dude that was all you. I just happened to walk up and decide not to scare you," Percy replied.

"You were invisible and did scare me!" Nico exclaimed.

"When was this?" Bianca asked narrowing her eyes at Nico.

"Uh," Nico said, "Help?"

"Sorry dude, it will come up Bianca," Percy replied.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.  
**"Point taken," everyone chorused.**  
I inched closer.  
**James, Sirius, the twins, and Leo all leaned closer.**  
"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too - "  
**And closer.**  
"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."  
**The demigods snorted.**  
"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline - "  
**"What deadline!" Everyone exclaimed.

Henrietta, Hermione, and Lupin were putting the pieces together. They gasped as one, eyes wide and quickly started whispering to each other. Henrietta made eye contact with Percy, who nodded and they continued to whisper excitedly. **  
"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."  
**"What does ignorance mean?" Nico asked.

"A lack of knowledge," Henrietta said.

"And kleptomaniac?"

"A mental illness in which you have a desire to steal things."

"Thank you walking dictionary," Percy joked.

"You're welcome walking seaweed."

"Touché."**  
"Sir, he saw her... ."  
**"And she hates me."**  
"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."  
**"But Grover ruined it," Lily pointed out.

"Like you do when we try to get rid of teachers," Sirius replied.**  
"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."  
**"Wait what failed duties?" Lily asked.

"I don't know," Bianca replied.

"You'll find out," Percy said.

"I hate those two words!" **  
"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall - "  
**"Way to scare the boy," Sirius said.

"They didn't know he was there," Lily replied.**  
The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.  
**"Great," Thalia replied, "I was interested."

"NOO!" James exclaimed at the same time, "Don't reveal your position!"

"JAMES!" Lily exclaimed.

"Sorry."**  
Mr. Brunner went silent.  
My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.  
**"Good, good. Retreat," James mumbled with Sirius.

Evangeline and Lily both smacked them.

"Mum!" Harry and Ariella exclaimed.

"Eh," Henrietta said, "Just make sure they don't bleed."**  
A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.  
**"He's in full form," Thalia whispered.**  
I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.  
**"Good," James mumbled shielding himself.

"Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, "Eva's killing me!"

They all watched as Eva smacked Sirius repeatedly with a red pillow. **  
A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.  
**No one spoke, leaning forwards in their seats.**  
A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.  
Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."  
**"What happened?" Harry asked.

Lily gasped in realization, "How."**  
"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."  
**"I was there, but you didn't see me," Percy cackled.

"He's going crazy," Ariella decided, "Yep."**  
"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."  
**Percy groaned, he still hated exams.**  
"Don't remind me."  
**"Nope, never remind me," Percy agreed with the demigods.**  
The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.  
**"Wait," Sirius ordered, "Wait."**  
I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.  
**"Good," James mumbled shielding himself from Lily again.**  
Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.  
**"Nice," Sirius said, "We will make a marauder of you yet."

"Thanks?" Percy asked.

"Now we need a nickname, same with Fred, George, and Leo."

The marauders started whispering with each other and Leo turned to Annabeth, as though willing her to read. **  
Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"Smart," Hermione whispered.**  
"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"  
**"Nope!" Percy replied cheerily.

"Now Percy, that isn't a good thing to do," Lily said.

"I do it all the time," Kara added, "And I usually get a good grade. A's and B's usually."**  
I didn't answer.  
"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"  
**"Nope!" Percy exclaimed happily.

Lily sighed and shook her head at Percy.**  
"Just... tired."  
**"Liar, liar pants on fire!" Leo exclaimed.

Leo set Percy's pants on fire. The son of Poseidon quickly summoned water from the kitchen that they created somehow, and put out the fire before cuffing Leo upside the head.

"Dude! Not cool," Percy sighed.**  
I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.  
**"Emotions," Bianca said, "Grover can read emotions."**  
I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.  
**"Good thing you didn't," Nico decided, "Or else I would have been the child."

The wizards shook their heads, knowing better than to ask by now.**  
But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.  
**"When am I not?" Percy asked.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Same thing happens to us," Harry sighed.

"WHAT?" Lily asked.

"Good job Harry," James sighed looking at a worried Lily.

"I was surprised she didn't freak out when I told her about me being a vampire," Henrietta whispered to her Dad and Harry.**  
The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

The demigods groaned, imagining how bad that would be on their dyslexia.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.  
**"Actually," Percy interrupted, "I didn't misspell them. I asked Chiron, he told me that I actually got a B+!"**  
For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, **

"Don't confess Percy!" Sirius exclaimed.

Percy blushed, remembering what happened later.

**but that didn't seem to be the problem.  
**"Nope," Percy sighed.**  
"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."  
**"Oo," Sirius said, "the talk."

Percy shuddered, "Sirius, the talk is something completely different. This is the TEACHER talk."

Lily gave Sirius a look, he looked sick.

"I think I'm gonna," He pointed to a white bathroom that appeared and he ran over there.

They all heard retching from the bathroom.

"Continue reading, no matter where you are you will always hear the reading," Kara explained.**  
His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. **

"Aw, is little Percy embarrassed?" George asked.

"At the time yes. Now, no," Percy replied.

**Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.  
**"Let me kill her," Thalia and the others begged.

"Just a little bit," Nico added.

Percy glared at Nico, but a smile played on his lips.**  
I mumbled, "Okay, sir."  
"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."  
**The demigods face palmed, Kara with them.**  
My eyes stung.  
**"Awe, is little Percy crying?" Fred asked.**  
Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.  
**"That sounds terrible," Lily sympathized.**  
"Right," I said, trembling.  
**The others sent him sympathetic looks, which he ignored.**  
"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be - "  
**Percy smirked, "I'm way beyond normal."**  
"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."  
"Percy - "  
But I was already gone.  
**Tiana punched him and laid her head on Percy's shoulder.**  
On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.  
**Silena shrieked, causing everyone to jump.

"Those poor clothes!" she exclaimed and Beckendorf wrapped his strong arms around her in comfort.

Luke and Bianca turned to each other and shrugged. While they were in the Underworld they got used to their random outbursts.**  
The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. **

"Switzerland, nice place to go for the summer," Nico muttered thoughtfully.

"When did you go to Switzerland?" Lily asked, "And did you have adult supervision?"

"Uh, a year ago… I think. And no actually I didn't."  
Bianca raised a dark eyebrow at her brother, which he ignored and gesture at Annabeth to continue reading.

**Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. **

Kara, Percy, and Tiana started grumbling. They wanted to go on a cruise ship.

**They were juvenile delinquents, like me, **

"You went to juvie?" James asked.

"Yeah…" Percy replied slowly.

"Who was watching over you?" Lily asked.

"Gabe," Percy muttered with a lot of venom in his voice.

Everyone, but Kara, Tiana, and Annabeth, stared at Poseidon's son in confusion. Sirius returned from the bathroom pale and clammy.

**but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.  
**Thunder boomed outside.

"OH SHUT UP ZEUS! NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR PETTY LITTLE PROBLEMS!" Percy exclaimed.

"Did that feel good?" Thalia asked amusement in her voice.

Percy smiled sheepishly, "Maybe."**  
They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.  
What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.  
**The demigods and wizards sent him sympathetic looks.

"Guys, I really don't care," Percy said rolling his eyes.**  
"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."  
They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.  
**"Rude," Ariella murmured looking up from her phone. **  
The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.  
**"STALKER!" Sirius shouted causing everyone to jump.

"Mum," Ariella said not looking up.

Evangeline cuffed Sirius upside the head.**  
During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.  
**"Yep, Nobody," Percy smirked.

"I wasn't there Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said between giggles, "Now let me read."**  
Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.  
**"This can't be good," Ginny mumbled to Ron.

"Nope, blimey. He has a worse patience than Harry," Ron whispered.**  
I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"  
**"Kindly Ones, other name for," Ariella started but Sirius covered her mouth.**  
Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha - what do you mean?"  
**"Way to scare the goat out of Goat Boy," Thalia laughed.**  
I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.  
**"NO!" James and Sirius exclaimed, "NEVER CONFESS!"

"James, Sirius. Sit down," Lupin ordered.**  
Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"  
**"Nothing," Percy replied cheekily.**  
"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"  
**"Not much, the entire conversation," Annabeth replied turning the page, "Ouch!"

"What?" Percy asked while Henrietta stiffened.

"Paper cut. I'm fine."

Henrietta quickly excused herself and left the room.

"I'll go after her," Lupin said quickly, "She won't bite me."

"Continue reading," Harry said, "Henrietta just needs to get control over herself."**  
He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."  
**"Nope, my math teacher was a demon and hates me to this very day," Percy shrugged.

"Whoa, she knows how to hold grudges," James whistled.

"She's not the only one," Percy replied giving a pointed look to Nico who blushed and buried his face in Tiana's hair.**  
"Grover - "  
"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."  
**"Sheesh, he's a really, really bad liar," Sirius said.

Annabeth smirked when she read the next line.**  
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."  
**"I think like Nemo over there," Sirius spluttered his dark eyes wide.

"Nemo?" Percy whispered to Annabeth.**  
His ears turned pink.  
From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.  
The card was in fancy script, **

"Why is it in fancy script?" Lily asked.

"Mr. D likes to see us suffer," Percy replied shrugging, "And he never gets our names right."

**which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:  
Grover Underwood  
Keeper  
Half-Blood Hill  
Long Island, New York  
(800) 009-0009**

"What's Half-Blood Hill?" James asked.

"You'll…" Percy started.

"See. I know."**  
"What's Half - "  
"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."  
My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"He's certainly not rich," Nico replied.

"They don't get paid," Percy added.**  
"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."  
**"Not mansion," Jason grinned.

"CAMP HALF-BLOOD!" the Greeks and Jason exclaimed.**  
He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."  
"Why would I need you?"  
**"Harsh," Lily scolded.

Percy leaned over to Harry, "Your mom is scaring me."

Harry shrugged, "I never see her so I don't know."

Percy sent him a sympathetic glance before kissing Annabeth's cheek, as his way to tell her to continue.**  
It came out harsher than I meant it to.  
**Lily sighed.**  
Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I - I kind of have to protect you."  
**"Protect him, why?" James asked.

"Cause monsters, Titans, Giants, gods, and a bunch of other creatures want to kill me," Percy shrugged.

Lily gulped; she had come to like these kids.**  
I stared at him.  
All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.  
**"That sounds weird when you put it like that," Hermione agreed.**  
"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"  
**"Listed earlier," Percy sighed, "My crazy family."

"Your family is trying to kill you?" Lily asked.

"Calm down Lily, I'm used to it," Percy answered.

"That's not necessarily a good thing."**  
There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. **

Percy wrinkled his nose.

**The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.  
**Thalia started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Percy asked.

"I… just had… a mental image… of a Greyhound dog… limping to the side of the road," Thalia laughed.

Everyone looked thoughtful for a moment before laughing.**  
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.  
**Percy paled and turned to Annabeth, worried how she would react.**  
We were on a stretch of country road - no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.  
**Annabeth's hands started shaking as she read the next lines.**  
The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.  
**The demigods, minus Kara and Percy, paled.**  
I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.  
**And paled even more.**  
All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.  
**Annabeth was clearly shaking now.**  
The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.  
**She started crying and handed the book to Harry, who was the closest one on her left that wasn't Percy. Who she was crying on at the moment.

"Harry, please read," Percy murmured to the confused wizard.**  
I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.  
**"How?" Annabeth whimpered.**  
"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man - "  
"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"  
"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"  
**Despite the obvious tension everyone managed a weak chuckle.**  
"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."  
**"Not funny," Lupin replied coming inside and grabbing a bottle full of red liquid that Harry wordlessly handed him.

He left again.**  
The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors - gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.  
**As did everyone in the room (and outside with Henrietta and Lupin, who were having fun dodging students and teachers)**  
"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."  
**"Get on the bus," Nico and the others chanted.

Luke gave Percy the oddest look and Percy mouthed 'your string'.**  
"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."  
**"Over exaggeration," Leo and Beckendorf said at the same time, "The bus would have melted."

They stared at each other before shaking their heads.**  
"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.  
**"No," Thalia growled, "Stupid Kelp Brains."

"Guys, I'm right here," Percy said.

No one paid him any head.**  
Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.**

Annabeth broke down in tears. Percy rubbed her back.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for - Sasquatch or Godzilla.  
**They all gave a little chuckle and the twins decided that it was two depressing.

"Sasquatch!" Fred exclaimed.

"No, I think it would be Godzilla," George replied.

Sirius and James caught on.

"George it would totally be Sasquatch," James said.

"No it's Godzilla!" Sirius growled.

Leo and Percy decided to join in.

"SASQUATCH!" Leo shouted.

"Godzilla Leo, Godzilla," Percy comforted.

Soon they were all 'fighting', at least until the laughter started.

"Thank you!" they all shouted and pretended to bow.**  
At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.  
**"That wouldn't work," Beckendorf frowned.

"The Fates Charlie, they probably did that," Silena replied.**  
The passengers cheered.  
**As did the wizards.**  
"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"  
Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.  
**The somber feeling settled on them again, Annabeth sobbed.**  
Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.  
"Grover?"  
"Yeah?"  
"What are you not telling me?"  
**"Everything," Thalia whispered stubbornly wiping away a tear.**  
He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"  
**"Socks, for Sasquatch and Godzilla. Didn't you see Grover?" James chuckled.

"James, not the time," Lily scolded smacking her husband.**  
"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"  
**"No," Piper shook her head.**  
His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. **

"Good instincts," Jason complimented.

"Oh!" Ariella exclaimed, "Found what those things are… for those that haven't figured it out."

She showed the ones who haven't figured it out her phone and they all gasped.

"How are you alive?" Sirius asked.

"It wasn't my string. It was another heroes," Percy replied making eye contact with Luke.

**He said, "Just tell me what you saw."  
**"Socks," Leo shrugged.**  
"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."  
He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost - older.  
**"Good observations," Lily complimented.

"If only he used them," Thalia replied.

"I do, but usually it ends out badly," Percy sighed looking down.

Bianca knew what he was thinking about and glared at him. Same with the other dead heroes.**  
He said, "You saw her snip the cord."  
**"Yeah, and disappear with socks. Get your head around that Grover," Leo joked.**  
"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.  
**"Bigger than you could imagine," Annabeth mumbled in Percy's chest.

"I told you, it wasn't my cord!" Percy exclaimed.**  
"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."  
**"He's got to get over that! It was my choice!" Thalia exclaimed sparks flying off of her.

Everyone nearby scooted away, except for Jason.**  
"What last time?"  
**"Ours," Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke chorused.**  
"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."  
**"Hey! So does that mean I'm incapable of getting past sixth grade?" Nico asked.

"Uh, you're supposed to be in eighth," Percy pointed out, "If you didn't ditch all the time."

"Yes, but he has only learned up to fifth grade stuff," Annabeth pointed out.

"True."

Nico pouted and grumbled, "They didn't answer my question."**  
"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"  
**"Us too," the wizards announced.**  
"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."  
This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.  
**"You ditched him didn't you," Lily sighed.

Percy smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. Not answering Lily.**  
"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.  
**"What does superstition mean?" Nico asked.

"A belief or way of behaving that is based on fear of the unknown and faith in magic or luck," Annabeth recited as though she memorized it, which she probably had.

"Thank you other walking dictionary," Sirius mumbled.

Evangeline slapped him.**  
No answer.  
"Grover - that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"  
**"Yes, but it happened in like four years," Percy mumbled.**  
He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"What type of flowers would you like on your coffin?" Thalia asked.

"Probably water lilies," Percy answered confused.

"Nico, make a note of that."

"Uh oh," Percy mumbled, "See ya!"

He ran off with a sparking Thalia behind him. Henrietta walked in and saw them running her way. She quickly ran at the speed of light and stopped in front of her parents.

"What happened," she asked, "I couldn't hear the comments? Only the story."

"Uh, Thalia wants to kill Percy. After she asked what flowers she would like best on his coffin," James replied putting a hand on her shoulder, "Feeling better?"

She nodded and Lupin walked through the black front doors. Ariella was listening to some music on her phone.

"Stop!" Henrietta roared, "I would really like it so that there is no more blood. Let's continue reading."

"Fine," Thalia said pushing Percy over, "Who's reading."  
"I guess I will," Harry said, "Since I only read the very last part of this chapter."

They all settled around the couch and Harry started reading.

**Me: Translation: Isn't that right Annabeth? What about you Jason?**

**Harry: So that's what they said.**

**Me: Yep, now I need someone for Ariella. Like a pairing. Henrietta has an OC that isn't going to come in.**

**Leo: Please make it someone that's alive! Not dead!**

**Ariella: That would be nice.**

**Me: Here is who you can choose from:**

**Leo: 0**

**George: 1 (because of me, but I still want you guys to choose)**

**OC: 0**

**Neville: 0 (will bring him in if chosen)**

**Draco: 0 (will bring him in if chosen)**

**Jordan: 0 (you guys remember him. Will bring in if chosen)**

**Other: 0 (If so specify in review)**

**Ariella: I don't know anyone here but Leo and George.**

**Me: So what, now Hermione ask for reviews.**

**Hermione: Please review and vote for who to pair Ariella with!**


	3. GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY LOSES HIS PANTS

**Me: Okay here is where it stands.**

**Leo: 0**

**George: 2**

**OC: 0**

**Neville: 0**

**Draco: 2**

**Jordan: 0 (do you guys even remember him?)**

**Other: 0**

**Hermione: Wow, looks like it's between two.**

**Ariella: Pretty much.**

**Percy: I only know Leo and George.**

**Ariella: Same here.**

**Harry: I'll tell you who the others are.**

**Me: Later, Ariella do the disclaimer.**

**Ariella: Fine, candyland7 owns nothing but her OC's and herself.**

**3****rd**** Person POV**

Percy wasn't sure how he felt about Harry's sister almost losing herself in the last chapter, though he did like the fact that she left to protect the others. Harry started reading.

**Chapter 3 GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY LOSES HIS PANTS**

"Wait, what?" Ariella asked.

"I don't know, ask Percy," Harry replied.

"Uh, it should be explained," Percy answered.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.  
**"Percy," Lily groaned.

"Even I could tell that was stupid," Sirius said.

"You sure about that Padfoot?" James asked.

"Shut up Prongs."**  
I know, I know. It was rude. **

"And dangerous," Kara added.

"I know!" Percy exclaimed.

**But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"  
**"I would ditch him to," Ron agreed.

"Ronald!" Ginny exclaimed.**  
Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up,**

"TMI," Nico mumbled.

"TMI?" Fred asked.

"To much information," Thalia explained before waving Harry on.

**so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, and then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.  
**"Percy," Beckendorf groaned, "What are we going to do with you?"  
"Keep me around for entertainment," Percy replied cheekily.

"Good idea!" James exclaimed.

"What have you done?" Henrietta asked face-palming.

"A lot," Percy answered.**  
"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.  
**The twins, marauders, and Leo grinned.

"We moved," Percy sighed, "And Leo, you love my mom!"**  
A word about my mother, before you meet her.  
**"Amazing," Percy grinned.

"Kind," Thalia added.

"Nice," Annabeth agreed.

"Cookies!" Nico exclaimed.

"Good," Leo returned.

"Generous," Jason said.

"Gentle," Piper continued.

"Sweet," Hazel sighed.

"The Best," Frank continued.

"That's two," Leo exclaimed.

"When did you guys meet my mom?" Percy asked turning to Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Frank.

"We meet her while you were missing," Jason said for the lost trio group.

"We heard a lot about her through you," Frank and Hazel explained.

"Oh…" Percy replied, "Well I like that you guys like her, but she's mine."**  
Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world,**

The demigods, that met her, nodded in agreement.

**which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

"That includes you two," Kara pointed towards Percy and Harry.

"No," they both chorused, "We don't have bad luck."

"Are you kidding!" the demigods and wizards exclaimed (that know them)

Lily and James paled and turned towards each other.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five,**

"REALLY DAD!" Thalia and Jason shouted at the sky.

Thunder boomed outside.

**and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.  
**"That's terrible," Lily sympathized.

"You have no idea," Percy sighed.**  
The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.  
**"AW!" Piper and Silena exclaimed.

"Piper," Jason whispered.

"I know." **  
I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile.**

"He visited you?" Annabeth asked.

Percy and Tiana nodded.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, "Do your parents not visit you?"

"Well… you'll see," Frank sighed.

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.  
**"That's terrible, I couldn't imagine not having pictures of James," Lily sighed hugging James tight.**  
See, they weren't married. **

"Already has a wife," Percy whispered, "And a son… both of whom hates me."

"Annabeth's rubbing off on you Kelp Brain," Thalia replied.

**She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret.**

"That's so cute!" Silena squealed.

"How are you related to her?" Leo asked.

**Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.  
Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.  
**"A lie, but not a lie," Hazel sighed, "She's good."**  
She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.  
**"Understatement," Tiana mumbled.

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed, "I remember that you weren't any easier! And you just wouldn't shut up!"

"Really?" Frank asked, "She's so quiet."

Leo shook his head, "She talked so much."

"How would you know?"

Leo didn't answer.**  
Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, **

Annabeth and Percy growled. Tiana's sea-green eyes narrowed. And everyone else was confused, what would cause those three to hate a man so much.

"Uh, who is he?" Thalia asked.

"My step-father," Percy growled.

"But that's Paul," Nico replied.

"My first step-father."

**who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, and then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk.**

Percy's eyes widened, what if it had his secret.

**When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.  
**Everyone gagged and Silena turned green.**  
Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.  
**Percy paled.**  
I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. **

Percy and Tiana growled at the poker buddies.

**The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.  
**Silena ran out of the room with Beckendorf following.**  
Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."  
**"That's it?" Lily asked, "No welcome home? How have you been for the last six months?"**  
"Where's my mom?"  
**Lily and Eva smiled slightly.**  
"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"  
**"He asked you for cash. That pig of a man asked you for cash?" Thalia asked getting up sparking, "Where is he? So I can kill him?"  
"Calm down Thal's, Gabe is dealt with. Now sit down," Percy said pulling down the daughter of Zeus.**  
That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?  
**Everyone laughed, as that's what Lily said earlier.

"What would you have done if he actually said that?" Henrietta asked.  
"Died of shock," Percy replied grinning.**  
Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.  
**"Never, nothing would ever make him handsome," Silena gagged returning, "If I end up leaving again. Don't have me come back until we're done with Gabe."

"Got it Sil," Percy responded smiling.**  
He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, **

"Rachel might have known him," Annabeth said in shock.

"She did," Percy added, "I asked her once."

**but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. **

"Dad," Percy explained at the demigods look.

**He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. **

Lily frowned, knowing what happens to most kids that have alcoholics for parents.

**Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.  
**"WHAT?" the demigods exclaimed jumping up.

Even the wizards were angry. Most glared at the book, causing Harry to squirm. It was the demigods reactions that scared everyone the most, and Henrietta's of course. Thalia was sparking as was Jason, Bianca and Nico had shadows surrounding them, Silena and Piper were surrounded by a pink light, Annabeth's gray eyes were flashing and she was surrounded by a gray glow, Hazel had diamonds popping around her, Frank's form was flickering from a dragon to human, Leo was on fire and Beckendorf was trying to put him out. Henrietta's eyes were red and her fangs were out.

"What did he do to you?" Annabeth asked voice strangely calm.

"Annabeth," Percy started.

"Percy, what did he do to you?"

Annabeth's voice was calm and steady, but it showed that her calm was slowly wavering.

"Can we please talk about it later?" Percy begged.

"Percy. What. Did. He. Do. To. You?" Annabeth asked clipping of each word.

Percy gripped his hands tight, "Do you really want to know? When I was five it was just little punches here and there. Six he started whipping me with his belt. Seven he smashed beer bottles above my head until I passed out. Eight he cut me with a knife. Nine he carved words into my body with a white hot knife. Ten his poker buddies were over and he let them do anything they wanted to me… EVERYTHING. Eleven, he often left me in a pool of blood. Twelve was the worst, I don't even remember it! My own memory rejected it!"

Percy sat on the couch head in his hand. No one made a move towards him, mostly because water was swirling around him completely. Annabeth gently put a hand on his shoulder and when he didn't do anything, she hugged him tightly.

"Continue Harry," Thalia whispered staring at the shaking person that she considered her brother.**  
"I don't have any cash," I told him.  
He raised a greasy eyebrow.  
**Silena left the room and the others remembered what she said.

"I'll get her when we're done with Gabe," Beckendorf spat out the name and emptied a water bucket over his flaming brothers head.**  
Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.  
**Annabeth gasped slightly and gripped Percy closer, he was drifting off.**  
"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof; he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

"He can do math?" Lupin asked.

"I guess," Hermione responded disgusted.**  
Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."  
**"At least someone has a heart," Lily responded.

"He was the only one that didn't have 'fun' with me," Percy mumbled, "Instead he left."**  
"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.  
Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.  
**"Gross," the girls chorused.

"Especially for me, my smell is a lot more heightened then yours," Henrietta pointed out.**  
"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."  
**"Consider it done," the marauders, Leo, and twins chorused.

"Um, this was a long time ago. He did lose though," Percy sighed.**  
"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"  
**"Brain boy?" Nico asked.

"That's Malcolm," Percy agreed.**  
I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.  
**Henrietta gagged and plugged her nose.**  
I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.  
**"All Hail the Sarcasm King!" Thalia and Nico exclaimed.

The demigods caught on and pretended to bow as Leo and Beckendorf quickly made a fake crown and placed it on his head. Percy laughed and threw a blue pillow at the laughing demigods.

"Shut up," Percy groaned pulling the crown off his head, but secretly he was happy that their mind was off of the abuse. **  
Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.  
**"That bad?" Henrietta asked, "My nose would die."**  
But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic - how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. **

"At least you remembered your broken promise," Lily sighed.

**A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone - something - was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.  
**The demigods tensed.**  
Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"  
**"You thought your mom was a monster?" Annabeth asked affronted.

"Yeah…" Percy answered.**  
She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.  
**Lily smiled, she couldn't wait until she did that with Harry and Henrietta. **(A/N Remember, Lily and James are from a month before they died) **Harry and Henrietta frowned, they didn't have that chance with their mom. Besides Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon weren't the best substitute parents and only struck more fear into them.**  
My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.  
**"She's a saint," Leo gaped.

"She's a mother," Lily and Evangeline sighed.**  
"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"  
**"Why do they do that?" Percy asked, "It's not like I would've shrunk."

Henrietta shrugged, "There's two mothers in the room. Ask them."**  
Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.  
**"Lucky!" the boys explained.

"Great," Annabeth sighed, "Thanks Seaweed Brain, now I want candy."**  
We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?  
**Leo looked down, remembering when his mother did that to him. He ignored the wetness on his cheeks and wiped them away quickly.**  
I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.  
**"Men," Thalia sighed.

"Hey!" the men in the room exclaimed.**  
From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally - how about some bean dip, huh?"  
**Everyone gritted their teeth at the mention of Gabe.**  
I gritted my teeth.  
**The demigods blinked and Percy laughed.**  
My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.  
**"What about Paul?" Thalia asked, "He's nice."

"I like Mr. Blowfish," Percy smirked, "I was just upset at the time."**  
For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. **

"More like Grover," Annabeth added.

**I'd done pretty well in Latin. **

"Perks of being us," Jason added.

**And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.  
**"That's one good spin," Sirius commented as Ariella looked up.**  
Until that trip to the museum ...  
**"That would be really hard to do," Fred sighed.**  
"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets.**

"Her eyes tend to do that," Leo sighed, "Just like my mom's used to…"

Piper and Jason heard. Piper gave Leo a one armed hug and Jason patted Leo's back.

**"Did something scare you?"  
**"Not anymore, that was a piece of cake," Percy laughed.**  
"No, Mom."  
**"Don't lie," Sirius sighed.

James gave him a weird look, "I don't know you anymore."  
"Even I know that this isn't a good place to lie," George agreed.**  
I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"It wouldn't she can see through," Annabeth started.

"The Mist. I didn't know that at the time though," Percy replied.

"The Mist?" Lupin asked.

"The thing that blocks the mortals from actually seeing what is really there."**  
She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.  
**"She should've," Annabeth mumbled.

"Not like I would have answered honestly," Percy shrugged.**  
"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."  
**"That'll catch his attention," the demigods smiled.**  
My eyes widened. "Montauk?"  
**"Yippee!" Percy exclaimed.

All the demigods smiled, happy that Percy and Annabeth seemed to be healing.**  
"Three nights - same cabin."  
**"I remember that cabin," Annabeth smiled.**  
"When?"  
**"Impatient are we?" Jason laughed.

"Yep," Percy replied.**  
She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."  
I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.  
**"More like he gambled it all," Ariella bristled.**  
Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"  
**"She hear you, you miserable son of-" the older ones covered the smaller ones ears as Thalia cussed.

"Done yet?" Sirius asked as Thalia took a breath.

"Yeah."**  
I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.  
**"Leave quickly," James begged.**  
"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."  
**"Don't butter him up," Evangeline growled, "That's one b- of a man."**  
Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"  
**"No, she was joking," Fred and George drawled.

"I'm happy she wasn't," Percy sighed.**  
"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."  
**"He better," everyone growled.**  
"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel **

Sirius snickered at Gabe's real name.

**won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."  
**"Bribery," Leo smiled, "I love your mom Perce."  
"She's mine," Percy smirked.

"Possessive much?" Frank asked.**  
Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"  
**"WHAT!" Piper exclaimed.

Beckendorf and Bianca stared at Piper and Luke sniggered.

"Piper," Leo sighed, "I hate to break it to you, but your Aphrodite is showing."**  
"Yes, honey," my mother said.  
**"Stop with the honey thing," Nico begged, "It makes her sound like Alecto."

"Don't compare Aunt Sally with Alecto," Thalia warned, "Or else."**  
"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."  
**"That worked," Percy sighed.

"Let me guess, you destroyed it," Hazel suggested.

"Yep."**  
"We'll be very careful."  
**"Nope!" Percy exclaimed.**  
Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."  
**"Interrupting! He funded it!" Everyone exclaimed.**  
Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.  
**"Do it," Everyone exclaimed.**  
But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.  
**"Aunt Sally's to nice for her own good," Thalia and Nico sighed.

"But she's nice," Jason answered, "And that's really good."**  
Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?  
**"It's for my own good," Percy sighed making a dinosaur out of water and handing it to Nico. **  
"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."  
**"Sarcasm, sweet, sweet Sarcasm," The twins sighed.**  
Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.  
**"Does he even have a brain?" Ariella asked.

"Ari!" Eva exclaimed.**  
"Yeah, whatever," he decided.  
**"My point is made," Ariella said.**  
He went back to his game.  
"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"  
**"Didn't happen," Percy sighed, "We got a little sidetracked."**  
For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes - the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride - as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.  
But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.  
**"Now I'm hungry," Ron decided.

"We'll eat after this chapter," Lily said.**  
An hour later we were ready to leave.  
**"An hour with Gabe," Thalia shrieked, "I wouldn't last a minute."

"Imagine living with him for a few years," Percy shivered.

"Don't want to, I salute you for that,"**  
Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car.**

"Yeah, just don't help him," Lily grumbled.

**He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking - and more important, his '78 Camaro - for the whole weekend.  
**"He cares more about his car than his wife and step-son," Lily growled.

James gave her a tight hug.**  
"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."  
**"Like he'd be driving, his twelve," Lily laughed.

Harry laughed at the next line.**  
Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve.**

Lily smiled at Percy.

**But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.  
**"Did that happen?" James asked.

"Yeah, he said the I forced the seagull to stay on the car until it pooped," Percy shivered, "That was the worst punishment."**  
Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.  
**"You're powerful," Thalia gasped, "Even before you knew you were a demigod."

"I guess," Percy shrugged, "But I don't think I'm that powerful."

"Are you kidding?" James asked, "You look really powerful!"  
"I thought he was a god when we first met," Hazel decided.**  
I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.  
**"Running away are we?" Luke joked.

"Luke…" Percy said, "I thought we were friends."

He pretended to cry, but instead he ended up laughing. Luke slapped him, chuckling.**  
Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders**

Annabeth shrieked and jumped onto Percy's lap. Everyone jumped and watched as Annabeth started shaking.  
"Calm down Wise Girl," Percy sighed, "There are no spiders here. I'll give you a dolphin."

Annabeth nodded into Percy's chest and Percy made one out of water and solidified it.

**in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.  
**"Like that would bug you," Thalia mumbled.**  
I loved the place.  
**"See," Nico sighed he played with his water dinosaur that often spouted water in his face.**  
We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.  
**"That's so cute," Silena cooed having returned.**  
As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.  
**"That's amazing," Piper gasped, "Mom must've blessed her."**  
We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.  
**"What's with blue?" Ginny asked, "It's kinda weird."**  
I guess I should explain the blue food.  
**"That would be nice," Ginny sighed.**  
See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This - along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano - was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.  
**"More like all rebellious and an obedience streak with only Annabeth and Aunt Sally," Nico sighed.

Percy blushed as Lily gave him a disapproving glance.**  
When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.  
**"I want to become a writer," Kara sighed walking in with a corndog.**  
Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk - my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.  
**Silena cooed and Piper sent her a shocked glance. Bianca slapped Nico, who had sprayed her with water.**  
"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."  
**"Percy looks like a photocopy of Uncle Poseidon," Thalia laughed.

"Can I slap you?" Percy asked turning towards her.

"Percy!" Lily exclaimed.**  
Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."  
**"He is," Nico sighed.

Percy nudged Nico and Annabeth sat down next to Percy again.**  
I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.  
**"That's more impressive than Piper," Leo decided.

"I would disagree, but that's true," Piper sighed.**  
"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

"Before you were born," Annabeth sighed.**  
She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."  
**"That's terrible," Lily sighed, "If James ever did that I would slap him."

James scooted away from Lily, slightly scared.**  
"But... he knew me as a baby."  
**"He visited," Percy sighed.**  
"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."  
**"Or else Zeus might've killed him," Leo said.

"It's impossible to kill an immortal, they could fade," Percy looked down at the memory of Pan.**  
I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.  
**Percy grimaced, hating what he thought.**  
I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me ...  
**"Uh oh," the demigods groaned.**  
I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.  
**"I don't think that way anymore," Percy sighed looking at the ground.

Harry and Henrietta frowned, they felt like that sometimes before they found out the truth.**  
"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"  
**"Percy," Annabeth sighed.

"I know, I'm a Seaweed Brain, but I'm your Seaweed Brain," Percy smirked kissing Annabeth's cheek.

"When did you become so cheesy?" Thalia asked gagging.

"I've always been cheesy, it just doesn't come out often."**  
She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.  
**"Did it commit suicide?" Percy asked laughing.

"I don't know, you were there. And how does it commit suicide?" Sirius asked.

"Second book."**  
"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."  
**"Something," Percy sighed.

"How can a voice be heavy?" Ariella asked.

"I don't know Ella," Sirius replied.

"How many time have I told you not to call me Ella?"

"A thousand."**  
"Because you don't want me around?" I regretted the words as soon as they were out.  
**Lily glowered at Percy, who sighed. He'd given his mom a hard time.**  
My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I - I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."  
Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said - that it was best for me to leave Yancy.  
**"Aunt Sally sounds a lot like Chiron," Nico sighed.

"I've never met your mom," the old demigods said thoughtfully.**  
"Because I'm not normal," I said.  
**"Not even by demigod standards," Leo joked.

"Neither are you," Percy added.**  
"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."  
"Safe from what?"  
**"Do you want a list?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Lily decided, "I think we'll find out eventually."**  
She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me - all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.  
**Nico shivered, he knew how Percy felt.**  
During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.  
**"Dad sent him to check on me," Percy explained.**  
Before that - a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.  
**"Like Heracles," Hermione gaped.

Percy growled, "Don't compare me to that brat."

"He's not even worth being called a brat. Much worse than a brat," Jason decided.**  
In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.  
**"That's not a good thing," Lily sighed.**  
I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword.**

"It wasn't a hallucination," Nico decided.

**But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.  
"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy - the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."  
**"Where?" Hermione asked, "You're too old to go to Hogwarts."

"I'm not going to Hogwarts… whatever that is," Percy replied

"It's our school," Henrietta explained.**  
"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"  
**"Nope," Annabeth sighed.**  
"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."  
**"CAMP HALF-BLOOD!" the Greeks and Jason exclaimed.

"What about Camp Jupiter?" Hazel and Frank asked.**  
My head was spinning. Why would my dad - who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born - talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?  
**"She was scared, and she wanted Tiana and I to go together. She wanted to wait until Tiana was found," Percy explained.**  
"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I - I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."  
"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."  
**"You could die or you could stay year round," Annabeth explained.

"Die?" Lily asked, her voice a few octaves higher.

No one answered her.**  
She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.  
**"Women and their tears," James and Sirius mumbled.

Lily and Evangeline both slapped their respected men.**  
That night I had a vivid dream.  
**"I hate your dreams," Thalia decided.

"I hate sleeping period," Nico mumbled, not expecting anyone to hear him.

Unfortunately Percy did and he studied Nico. **  
It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, **

"Poseidon and Zeus," Piper sighed, "What are they fighting about?"

_Think, _Henrietta chanted, _think, think, think._

**were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.  
**"Hades?" Leo asked.

"Not Hades," Nico grumbled.**  
I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, No!  
**"Screaming won't help," Tiana sighed.**  
I woke with a start.  
Outside, it really was storming; the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.  
**"Artillery," Frank murmured, "Well that's one way to put it."

"It was what it sounded like," Percy defended.**  
With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."  
**"She knew what it was immediately?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah," Percy replied.**  
I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.  
**"That's a terrible sound," Thalia sympathized.

"No?" Percy asked sarcastically.**  
Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice - someone yelling, pounds on our cabin door. ****_I hoped it was my sister, she knew we liked to go to Montauk. To this cabin. She might have come here looking for us. _****  
**"Sadly, no," Percy replied.

"I was in St. Louis," Tiana explained to the confused looks.**  
My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.  
**"I imagine her breaking open the lock," James said.

"She didn't," Sirius answered, "Right?"  
"No, she didn't break the lock," Percy laughed.**  
Grover stood framed in the doorway****_, instead of my sister,_**

"You make it sound depressing," Ariella said, "Don't you like Grover?"

"I like Grover," Percy responded, "But I like Tiana better."

**against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.  
**"How could he not be Grover?" Ron asked.

"It means Grover isn't the same," Hermione explained.**  
"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"  
**"Nothing, as usual," Thalia smiled.

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed.**  
My mother looked at me in terror - not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.  
**"Why had he come?" James asked.

"All will be explained," Percy answered.**  
"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"  
**"A lot," Percy answered.**  
I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.  
**"What were you seeing?" Evangeline asked jumping up and down.

"You're like a little girl," James laughed.

"I'm eighteen," she replied.**  
"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"  
**"What does that mean?" Jason asked.

"Don't you know?" Lily asked.

"I know Latin, not Greek."

"It means 'Oh Zeus and All the gods'," Percy answered.**  
I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on - and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ...  
**"Where what?" Leo asked.

"You know what," Percy answered.

"I know, I was just asking for the wizards."**  
My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before****_, not even when Tiana went missing_**

"Wow, she must be upset," Annabeth sighed.

**: "Percy. Tell me now!"  
I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.  
**"She knew what it meant," Kara mumbled, "And you didn't."

"I know… now," Percy sighed.**  
She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"  
**"What color was your rain jacket?" Ariella asked fingering her black and red hair.**  
Grover ran for the Camaro - but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.  
**"How?" Lupin asked.**  
Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"Oh, that's weird," James sighed.

"Faun!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Satyr," Percy corrected, "Fauns are Roman."

"That's it," Harry sighed putting down the book.

"Let's take a break," Evangeline suggested, "Ariella needs a haircut."

"Mum!" Ariella exclaimed.

Evangeline grabbed Ariella's hand and pulled her to the bathroom. Ariella mouthed 'help' towards Harry who smiled and waved. Lily got up to go make something for them to eat. Henrietta frowned and went with her to go make something to eat. Even though she really doesn't eat much, Henrietta was a really good cook.

**Me: Well, this is fun. Next chapter is probably a break.**

**Ariella: Finally, but I really don't want a haircut.**

**Harry: Ari, you have split ends. You need a haircut.**

**Percy: Tiana doesn't ever need a haircut, she has the powers of Aphrodite.**

**Harry: What is she? The goddess of Aphro's?**

**Thalia: No, but she might as well. She's the goddess of beauty.**

**Me: I don't care, Ariella ask for reviews.**

**Ariella: Fine, please review… even though I don't want a haircut.**

**Me: Remember vote for a pairing:**

**Leo: 0**

**George: 2**

**OC: 0**

**Neville: 0**

**Draco: 2**

**Jordan: 0 (do you guys even remember him?)**

**Other: 0**


	4. BREAK ONE

**Me: Hey guys! The winner is George! **

**Ariella: George seems okay.**

**George: You're cute.**

**Ariella: *Blushes and looks away***

**Me: Aw! Okay, that's scary.**

**Piper: Are you sure you aren't an Aphrodite girl?**

**Me: If I was I would cry.**

**Harry: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!**

**Me: I hate you…**

**Henrietta: I wish I could leave.**

**Lily: It's okay, we need to cook.**

**Me: Before you two leave, can you do the disclaimer Lily.**

**Lily: Sure, candyland7 owns nothing but her OC's and herself.**

**Percy: Wait, they can leave?**

**3****rd**** Person POV**

Henrietta and Lily were looking through a cookbook that they found in the cabinet, trying to find something to make. She hadn't told her mom yet that she doesn't normally eat; when she does it's usually something that she kills herself. Harry was talking with Percy, trying to learn more about the demigods and what had gone on. So far it hadn't work as Percy answered a few questions but most of the time he said that it should be explained. The marauders, twins, and Leo start up a conversation about a prank. Tiana looked like she was going to put a stop to it, but then Nico pulls her to a secluded area. Evangeline comes out beaming.

"You guys want to see Ariella?" she asked.

Everyone looked up interested. Said girl walked out, her black and red hair was curled and it went to her shoulders. Henrietta and Lily came out, Lily was holding onto a white dishcloth and Henrietta was tying on a red and white stripped apron. They both smiled at the blushing girl, who was hiding her face behind her newly cut hair. George walked over and put an arm around her shoulder.

"You look amazing Ari," George complimented.

"Thanks George," Ariella blushed.

"Well," Henrietta said, "We're debating between making a Chinese dinner or making sushi."

"Chinese," Percy decided immediately, "I don't eat fish."

"I'm allergic to fish," Nico added.

"Chinese it is then," Lily sighed.

Henrietta and Lily disappeared into the kitchen. Harry leaned over to Ron.

"When do you think Henrietta will tell them that she doesn't eat?" Harry asked.

"Soon," Ron replied.

Hermione sat down on the other side of Harry, "She should just tell them everything. It's not good that she's hiding thing from your mum and dad."

"She just needs to learn to trust them," Harry replied, "Or at least get closer to them."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms.

"Remember, I had to find out on my own," Harry pointed out waving his wand in a circle.

Percy walked over, "What do you do with that anyways?"

"This?" Harry asked holding out his wand.

"Yeah."  
Harry smirked, "You'll see."

Percy chuckled, "Payback."

Henrietta walked out of the kitchen. Her curly red hair was in a bun and a few strands were framing her face.

"Is dinner ready?" Fred asked.

"Cause I'm dying," George added.

"From starvation," Ariella ended.

The three start laughing hysterically and Sirius smiled. Looks like Ariella is starting to get out of her shell. Henrietta shook her head at the trio.

"Yes, dinner is ready. There is no fish what-so-ever. But there is chicken," Henrietta informed them before going back inside.

Henrietta and Lily each served the demigods and wizards before Lily served herself and sat down at the white kitchen table. Henrietta sighed and covered the food before going to the living room. She went to grab a book when she heard her dad's voice.

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked leaning on the white doorframe.

"Uh, no," Henrietta shrugged, "I don't usually eat."

James hazel eyes narrowed and he came over and sat down on the white couch next to his seventeen year old vampire daughter. She sighed and put down the book, it was called 'Piece's of Me' and had a blue cover.

"Why don't you eat?" James asked.

Henrietta was slightly startled by her dad's voice, but answered anyways.

"Uh, all I need is blood. Food is like an option for me, I only eat it when I need to pass by as a human or when I just feel like eating. Which oddly enough isn't that often," Henrietta sighed, "I'll be fine Dad. Now you need food seeing as you need to eat."

James studied her for a while before sighing and going back inside. Henrietta picked up the book and started reading.

Everyone looked up when James walked in. Most were asking a silent question while the others just shrugged and went back to eating. Those that went back where used to Henrietta not joining them for meals. Lily frowned at James who sat down heavily in his white plastic chair.

"She's not coming to eat," he announced.

"Henrietta never comes to eat. Sometimes she joins, but only when forced to at least grace us with her presence," Fred pointed out.

"To true Forge," George smiled.

"You got it right Gred."

"What?" Lily asked.

"That's brilliant!" Ariella exclaimed.

"Come on Georella," Fred joked.

No one noticed George and Ariella's blush.

"Percabeth!" Silena exclaimed, "That's perfect for Percy and Annabeth."  
Nico jumped and ended up upturning his glass of water. The blue table cloth thankfully absorbed the water. Lily went to get up but James stopped her. Percy had waved his hand and removed the water before pouring it down the white crystal sink. Sighing, they all ate in silence before Henrietta walked in. Her eyes were wild and everyone stared at her for a while.

"Uh, Henrietta," Sirius starts, "Are you okay?"

Henrietta fell to the ground and Harry caught her before looking in the living room. Inside there seemed to be a portal. It was swirling purple and black and seemed to be one way. Kara looked out and smiled. Everything was going according to plan. Everyone looked at and Hermione stared at it and they watched as it settled on one image. Hermione, Harry, Henrietta **(A/N I just realized they all had 'H' names…)**, Lupin, Sirius, James, and Lily gaped at the image. It showed James and Lily's current house at Godric's Hollow. Kara stood in front of the image.

"Okay, you guys have a choice. Stay here for all the books or you can come here and read for the PJO and HOO series which there are ten of and then you go to Sally's for the Harry Potter," Kara suggested, "Time is stopped so you won't have to worry about people randomly barging in and I will work on sleeping arrangements."

They all look at each other and seemed to communicate.

"We choose…" Harry and Percy said.

**Me: You guys get to choose what they choose!**

**Percy: Huh, you seem to be in a good mood.**

**Me: Are you kidding? I'm in a terrible mood, my shoulder is killing me and my IPod has no internet!**

**Harry: But…**

**Me: And the only reason I'm so perky is because I'm tired! **

**Harry: …you make no sense…**

**Me: I will probably just pass out eventually.**

**Harry: …something is wrong with her.**

**Henrietta: I wouldn't say anything.**

**Me: And you *I round on Harry* I will tie you up and suspend you over a pool of sharks.**

**Harry: Do you even have one of those?**

**Nico: Oh no.**

**Me: *hits blue button* YEP!**

***The floor in the middle opens up and a shark tank appears with live sharks***

**Harry: She actually has one.**

**Me: Now Ron, since Harry is annoying me you get to ask for reviews.**

**Ron: Bloody brilliant, thanks mate.**

**Harry: Sorry.**

**Ron: Please review, then we get the next chapter!**


	5. MY MOTHER TEACHES ME BULLFIGHTING

**Ron: Do you know what it is? Me: Well, you guys will find out the option soon.**

**Harry: I don't even know it.**

**Percy: I guess you'll find out.**

**Henrietta: Do you even know what it is?**

**Percy: Actually yes, I do.**

**Henrietta: Really?  
Percy: Yeah… am I the only one?**

**Nico: Yes, yes you are.**

**Me: I know what it is!**

**Ariella: Yeah, but you're the author.**

**George: *puts an arm around Ariella's shoulder* She has a good point.**

**Sirius: Get your hands of my daughter.**

**George: *quickly draws his hand away from Ariella***

**Percy: Dude, you're scared of Sirius. I have a line of people who want to kill me, most of which could with a snap of their fingers.**

**Fred: Dude you have serious problems.**

**Thalia: Or a knack of annoying people he shouldn't.**

**Me: Does it look like I care? Now someone do the disclaimer.**

**Sirius: candyland7 owns nothing but her OC's.**

**3****rd**** Person POV**

_"__We choose…" Harry and Percy said together._

Before they could answer a bright light filled the room. Everyone turned away and when they turned back a guy with black hair and beard, a Hawaiian pattern shirt, swim shorts, and sandals holding a trident that was glowing green stood there. The demigods gaped.

"Dad?" Percy asked.

"Poseidon," the demigods said at the same time.

"A god?" the wizards asked after they said that.

Kara got the attention back to her, after she put everyone's pants on fire.

"Hey," Kara sighed, "Okay, what's your choice?"

They stared at her for a while before Percy and Harry answered.

"We choose the houses," They chorused.

Kara smiled, "Okay, I'll figure out a sleeping arrangement. Now let's get to James and Lily's, everyone through the portal!"

The demigods went through first, then the wizards, then Kara and Poseidon. Inside were Sally and Paul, looking startled. Percy gaped at his mom, with Tiana, and Sally started crying. She tackled Percy in a hug and sobbed on him. The Son of Poseidon comforted his mother gently.

"Oh gods, Percy," Sally sobbed then she noticed the tattoo, "Perseus Allen Jackson did you get a tattoo?"

Percy looked startled and looked down at his black SPQR tattoo.

"Oh, about that. The Romans did it when I got accepted into the legion," Percy replied.

"Yeah, just blame it on the Romans," Frank said.

"What? It's true!"

The wizards and unknown half-bloods got introduced to Sally and Paul.

Kara stepped in, "Let's just read. It's Evangeline's turn."

Evangeline sighed and everyone crowded in the living room. A few of the wizards teased Harry and Henrietta seeing the pictures of them as babies. It was weird for the siblings to see their house not ruined, though Henrietta remembered it. She remembers everything.

**Chapter 4 MY MOTHER TEACHES ME BULLFIGHTING**

Percy paled at the chapter name; this wasn't going to be a good chapter.

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.  
**"I couldn't," Sally answered.

"Well that's a comforting thought," Percy replied.**  
Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

"That's totally out of style," Silena shrieked.

"How am I related to her?" Piper whispered to Leo.

"Mom," he replied.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo - lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.  
**"Well, he was wet," Annabeth said slowly.

"How would you know?" Ariella asked.

"I was there," Annabeth answered, "Later on."**  
All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"  
**"First thing huh?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," Percy replied blushing, "I was also hoping my sister was wherever we were going."

Sally shook her head, "I would have gotten contacted."

"I was in St. Louis," Tiana answered impatiently.**  
Graver's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."  
**"Stalker," Sirius and James chorused, getting a smack from Lily and Eva.

Eva didn't even look up from the book.**  
"Watching me?"  
**"Stalker," the twins whispered.

Ariella and Ginny smacked them.**  
"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."  
**"Still is!" the demigods exclaimed.

Henrietta and Lupin covered their sensitive ears.**  
"Urn ... what are you, exactly?"  
**"Well," James started.

"Say another word and I will smack you," Lily replied, "With a spatula."**  
"That doesn't matter right now."  
"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey - "  
**"Oh, he won't like that," Thalia frowned.

"I'm surprised he didn't trample you," Nico added, "I once asked Hedge if he was part donkey and he smacked me with his baseball bat."

"Did he yell DIE?" Piper asked.

"Yes."**  
Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"  
**"Blaa-ha-ha," Sirius said slowly.

"Yes," Evangeline replied.**  
I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.  
"Goat!" he cried.  
**"What?" George asked.**  
"What?"  
**George blushed at Ariella's tinkling laugh. Silena squealed happily.**  
"I'm a goat from the waist down."  
**"He just said it doesn't matter," Fred said.**  
"You just said it didn't matter."  
**Fred blushed and everyone laughed.**  
"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!"  
**Nico winced and Percy patted his back, holding in his laughter since he saw that event.**  
"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"  
**"Ugh! Here comes Percy being slow," Annabeth sighed.

"I'm guessing it happens often," Ron guessed.

"Yes," the demigods answered.**  
"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"  
"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"  
**"Still on this?" James asked.

"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy," Percy replied.**  
"Of course."  
"Then why - "  
**"The less you knew the safer you were," Luke explained.

"I know," Percy replied throwing a red pillow at his face.

"Hey!" Lily exclaimed, "I just cleaned."

"Sorry Lily, where's Kara?"

"She's exploring to find sleeping arrangements," Poseidon replied.

As if on cue Nico stifled a yawn. Thankfully no one noticed.**  
"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."  
**"Confusing Percy even more doesn't work," Bianca sighed.

"How would you know?" Percy asked.

"I went on a quest with you."

"Touché."**  
"Who I - wait a minute, what do you mean?"  
The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.  
**Percy and Sally shuddered, remembering when that happened.**  
"Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."  
**"CAMP…" The Greeks started.

Henrietta cast the Silencing Spell on them unverbaly. They frowned as the wizards laughed and Lily shot her a disapproving look.

"What, my ears hurt," Henrietta pouted and Remus nodded in agreement.**  
"Safety from what? Who's after me?"  
**"Oh no one but…" Jason started before he too got a Silencing Spell placed on him.

"Henrietta!" Lily and Sally exclaimed.

"Fine," She muttered before taking off the spell.**  
"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."  
**"And many immortal beings that he upset," Annabeth added.

"Monsters," Hazel added.

"And other things," Frank added in order not to spoil too much.**  
"Grover!"  
"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"  
**"Please," Poseidon added.

"Uh Dad, I'm right here," Percy waved.**  
I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.  
**"Want a bet Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked.**  
My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.  
**"Say anything, and I'll jinx you," Henrietta warned.  
"Henrietta!" The moms exclaimed.**  
"Where are we going?" I asked.  
**She shot them a glare and they stayed silent.**  
"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."  
**"Camp Half-blood!" Percy exclaimed.

Henrietta jinxed him and everyone saw a flopping fish in his place. Poseidon immediately got a bowl of water and placed him in it. Harry and the younger wizards laughed at him. Frank frowned and joined Percy in there, to keep him company.

_You still want to be able to turn into animals? _Frank asked.

_By my own will sure, but changed into one… no. _Percy replied.**  
"The place you didn't want me to go."  
**"That won't make it any easier," Paul frowned.

Everyone jumped, he had been so quiet.**  
"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."  
**"Everyday life," the demigods shrugged.**  
"Because some old ladies cut yarn."  
**"That makes it sound stupid," Annabeth frowned tears threatening to overcome.

"_It wasn't my cord_!" Percy exclaimed making bubbles, "_Gods_."**  
"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means - the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."  
**"Way to slip up," Sirius frowned.**  
"Whoa. You said 'you.'"  
"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"  
"You meant 'you.' As in me."  
"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."**

"Did anyone else follow that?" Ariella asked.

"No," James answered.**  
"Boys!" my mom said.  
**"Thank you!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Just cause you're a hunter doesn't mean you can hate us," Nico pouted.

"I don't hate you," Thalia whispered, "I hate pigs of men."

"Like Gabe," Leo suggested.

Percy made bubbles, indicating that he was growling, and Tiana flinched. Sally glared at the ground so hard it started smoking, or that was just Leo…

"I would suggest that Sally and Paul read the first few chapters, but I don't think it would be safe," Hermione whispered.

"Agreed," Harry and Ron replied.**  
She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid - a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.  
"What was that?" I asked.  
**"Pasiphae's Son," Poseidon whimpered.**  
"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."  
**Poseidon continued the chant, ignoring his fish son's protests.**  
I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.  
Outside, nothing but rain and darkness - the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

"Gods! He's so slow!" Annabeth exclaimed.**  
Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom! and our car exploded.  
**"WHAT?" the demigods exclaimed.**  
I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.  
**Everyone winced as Percy cried out in pain, bubbles surfacing to the surface. Frank chased him around the clear bowl.**  
I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."  
"Percy!" my mom shouted ****_as though she was worried she had lost me too_****.  
**"I was," Sally sighed.

Tiana frowned at Percy's thought.**  
"I'm okay... ."  
**"After that description, doubtful," Thalia frowned.**  
I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.  
Lightning.**

"DAD!" Thalia and Jason exclaimed.

**That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"  
**"Of course," Annabeth whispered, "That's what happened."**  
He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!  
**"So sweet," Silena smiled.**  
Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.  
**"Food? Really?" Beckendorf asked.**  
"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.  
I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.  
**"The Minotaur," Hermione and Lupin gasped.

"_Yeah, Beef Boy probably misses me_," Percy said.

_"__You do know they can't hear you?" _Frank asked.

_"__I know."_**  
I swallowed hard. "Who is - "  
"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."  
**"Do what she says," Poseidon gripped his seat tightly.

_"__DAD! I'M RIGHT HERE! AS A FISH BUT I'M STILL HERE!" _Percy shouted mentally.

Tiana chuckled slightly and Poseidon looked down at his goldfish son.**  
My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.  
**"Don't go through there," Lily groaned.

Sally smiled at Lily, who grinned back.

"Wait, what about Harry and Henrietta?" Lily asked turning to James.

"We're right here," Harry whispered.

"Younger us," Henrietta replied.

"They're probably frozen in time," James answered.

"Ask Kara when she returns," Hermione suggested.**  
"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy - you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"  
**"Me!" Thalia exclaimed.

The wizards looked at her like she was mental, same with a few of the demigods.**  
"What?"  
Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.  
**"Glad you think so highly of me," Thalia replied looking at goldfish Percy, who rolled his eyes.**  
"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."  
**"He's too loyal, he won't leave you," Annabeth sighed.**  
"Mom, you're coming too."  
**"Fatal flaw," the demigods sang**  
Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean ****_or at Tiana's pictures_****.  
**Tiana looked like she wanted to slap Fish Percy, but she held herself back and hugged her mom tightly.**  
"No!" I shouted ****_I couldn't lose my mom like I lost Tiana_****. **

She glared at Fish Percy, who swam to the opposite corner of the bowl.

**"You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover."  
**"He's loyal," Hermione gaped, "Like you Harry."  
Ginny smiled at Harry.**  
"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.  
The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands - huge meaty hands - were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns ...  
**"Are horns," Luke said slowly.

_"__I get it!" _Percy shouted.

_"__He can't hear you!" _Frank exclaimed.**  
"He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."  
**"Rachel can, then why can't you?" Jason asked.  
"Rachel's the oracle," Annabeth explained.

"You mean a seer?" Harry asked.

"No, that's different," Annabeth sighed, "You'll see."**  
"But..."  
"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."  
I got mad, then - mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.  
**"Which is part bull," Bianca sighed ignoring the fact that Nico kept spraying her with water from his dinosaur.**  
I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."  
**"I can't cross," Sally sighed and Paul hugged her tightly.**  
"I told you - "  
"Mom! I am not leaving you. ****_I already lost Tiana! _****Help me with Grover."  
**Tiana finally turned into a fish, slapped her brother, and then turned human as though it was a normal occurrence.**  
I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.  
Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.  
**"They should really cut that, I should talk to Demeter and Dionysus," Poseidon mused.

The wizards gaped at Poseidon again.**  
Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine - bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear **

The demigods started laughing.

**- I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms - which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.  
**Silena gagged and even Piper looked disgusted.**  
His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns - enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.  
**"You have a weird way of describing things," Leo smiled.

The twins grinned, "He's perfect!"

Fish Percy groaned and made fishy eyes at Henrietta, as though begging her to change him back… with clothes on. She ignored him.**  
I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.  
**"He is, very real," Jason replied frowning.**  
I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's - "  
"Pasiphae's son," my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."  
**"That's a comforting thought," Lily frowned.**  
"But he's the Min - "  
"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."  
**"No they don't," Harry frowned.

"Yes they do," Poseidon looked at him completely serious, "Some will get you killed. Though my son hasn't learned that lesson yet."  
Poseidon looked down at Percy, who was grinning at him as a fish. Harry frowned slightly, taking in the information as Ron gave him the I-told-you-so look.**  
The pine tree was still way too far - a hundred yards uphill at least.  
**"ME!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Will you shut up?" Henrietta asked, "I have sensitive ears. As does Lupin."**  
I glanced behind me again.  
The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows - or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.  
**"He has terrible eyesight, he goes by smell," Hermione explained.**  
"Food?" Grover moaned.  
"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"  
"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."  
**"Smart," Henrietta complimented, "She would make a good Ravenclaw."

"Just because you're the only Ravenclaw," Harry started.

"Oh be quiet."**  
As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.  
**"Knew it," Thalia sighed.**  
Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.**

_"__Oops," _Percy smirked.

Frank slapped him with a fin then swam off as Percy chased him.**  
Oops.  
**Everyone laughed and then sobered up, remembering Percy's abuse.**  
"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way - directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"  
**"Smart," Lily agreed with her daughter.**  
"How do you know all this?"  
"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."  
"Keeping me near you? But - "  
Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.  
**"I wanted to know what he was saying," Ron pouted.**  
He'd smelled us.  
The pine tree **

"ME!" Thalia exclaimed.  
She was also turned into a fish. Poseidon sighed and put her in the bowl.

_"__Hello Thalia," _Percy waved.

_"__Hey," _Frank added.

_"__I'm a fish aren't I?" _Thalia asked.

_"__Yep, Henrietta must like fish," _Percy replied.

**was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.  
The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.  
**"So pessimistic," Hazel frowned.

_"__I'm not pessimistic," _Percy pouted.

_"__Yes you are," _Frank and Thalia replied.**  
My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."  
**"That's a good idea," Hermione sighed.**  
I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right - it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.  
**"Must you be so descriptive?" Silena asked gagging, "Excuse me, but where's the bathroom."  
"Down the hall, third door on the left," Lily answered.

She ran off and Beckendorf ran after her.**  
He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.  
**Poseidon, Sally, and Paul tensed.

_"__Guys! I'm right here… a fish but right here!" _Percy shouted mentally.**  
The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.  
**They slowly relaxed.**  
The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.  
**Poseidon tensed and Paul gripped Sally's arm tight.**  
We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.  
**"All you have to do is go by my tree," Thalia stated happily.**  
The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.  
**"Good draw the monster away from the injured one," Lupin whispered.**  
"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"  
**Everyone was tense, sensing something bad was going to happen.**  
But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.  
**Paul gripped Sally tight, Poseidon turned into a puddle of water, Percy landed at the bottom of the crystal fish bowl, Tiana looked down, and the demigods were confused. They had met Sally in the future.**  
"Mom!"  
She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"  
Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply ... ****_gone, just like my sister had been so many years ago._****  
**Tiana rolled her eyes, "I didn't disappear in a flash, and I went away by my own choice."  
The others stared at her in shock that was the most she said this whole time. The girl hid herself behind her hair and turned invisible.**  
"No!"  
Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs - the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.  
**"Cue kick-ass Percy," Nico grinned. **(A/N I don't normally cuss, but it just seemed like something Nico would say)**

Bianca cuffed Nico upside the head at his cussing and everyone ignored the retching in the bathroom. Kara comes in holding her nose.**  
The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.  
**"Actually, Grover would just turn into a shrub or something," Annabeth sighed.

_"__Well, I didn't know that at the time," _Percy replied.

_"__Dude! She can't hear you!" _Frank exclaimed.

_"__Shut up and stop fighting," _Thalia shouted.**  
I couldn't allow that.  
**"Loyalty," the demigods sang.

The wizards nudged Harry, who ignored them and sent a pointed look at his sister. Which she pointedly ignored and waved her maple wand around in the air.**  
I stripped off my red rain jacket.  
**"So that's what color it was," Ariella mumbled yawning slightly.**  
"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"  
**"You need better insults my friend, but surely we could fix that," Sirius said.

"Never going to happen," Leo sighed.

_"__If I wasn't a fish I would slap Leo right now," _Percy hissed.

Henrietta sighed and transformed Leo into a fish, mostly because she liked making fishes. Percy swam over and hit the red fish with his fin.

_"__OW! I'm a fish aren't I?" _Leo asked sighing.

_"__Yep," _The other fish replied.

_"__Great."_**  
"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.  
**"Grrrrr!" Sirius growled as he had transformed himself into a black shaggy

James and Lily jumped, as he was growling behind them.

"God Sirius, don't do that," Lily complained holding her chest.**  
I had an idea **

"_We're doomed_," Thalia sighed.

"We're doomed, " Nico groaned.

_"__Scary," _Leo said, _"Emo said same thing as Goth."_

**- a stupid idea, **

_"__Never mind,"_ Thalia corrected herself, _"We're perfectly fine."_

"Okay, we're good," Nico smiled.

The wizards sighed and shook their heads, not bothering to figure it out.

**but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.  
**"It's not going to work," Annabeth sighed.**  
But it didn't happen like that.  
**"Of course not," Harry muttered, "It never works the way you planned."**  
The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.  
**_"Oh Zeus," _Percy mumbled.

Thunder boomed and everyone jumped, but the fishes.**  
Time slowed down.  
**"Kronos?" Annabeth asked.

Fish Percy shook his head.**  
My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.  
**"How?" Sirius gaped.

_"__I've got talents," _Percy said.

_"__He can't hear you," _Thalia groaned.**  
How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.  
**_"THAT WAS YOU!" _Thalia exclaimed.

_"__Yeah," _Percy replied cautiously.

_"__I'm gonna get you!"_

Fish Thalia and Fish Percy raced around the bowl. Henrietta got bored and turned Nico into a fish, startling the other fishes.**  
The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.  
**Everyone was so into the book that no one said anything, not even the black fish Nico. Who was really annoyed.**  
The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.  
**"At least he figured something out," Annabeth mumbled, wishing that she could hold Percy to make sure that he was okay.**  
Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.  
**Everyone winced.**  
"Food!" Grover moaned.  
**"Gosh, won't he shut up!" Fred and George chorused.

Ariella fell asleep, her head leaning on George's shoulder.**  
The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. **

"Not gonna work," Hermione said.

Fish Percy smirked… if that's possible.

**The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then - snap!  
**"WHAT?" Hermione screeched.

She too, was turned into a fish, but she was too shocked to care.

"You were saying Mione," Ron laughed.**  
The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. **

Fish Percy rubbed his head, wincing.

**When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.  
**Fish Hermione was still gaping.**  
The monster charged.  
Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.  
**"Good reflexes," Luke complimented as Bianca took Nico's spot on the brown couch.**  
The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate - not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.  
**Fish Hermione blinked a few times as Fish Percy laughed, causing bubbles to go to the surface.

_"__That's not possible," _Hermione gaped.

_"__Oh, but it is. The look on your fishy face," _Percy laughed.**  
The monster was gone.  
The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother ****_and my younger sister_****,**

"Not gonna work," Paul sighed holding Sally close.

Tiana frowned and glared at fish Percy.

**but I held on to Grover - I wasn't going to let him go.  
**_"__To loyal for his own good,_" Thalia groaned.

_"__You know you love me Thal's," _Percy replied swimming in circles.**  
The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess'.**

Annabeth blushed.

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."  
**_"__The one eh Annie?"_ Thalia asked

_"__She can't hear you," _Percy teased.**  
"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

"That's it," Evangeline announced and turned to her sleeping daughter.

"We should get to bed," Hermione said, now human.  
"Sleeping arrangements," Kara mumbled, "Follow me! Lily and James will sleep in their normal room. The rest of you come with me."

Kara led them to a storage closet. James and Lily were curious so they followed her. Kara bent down and tapped the middle part of the carpet. A small square big enough to fit Hagrid, opened up and she climbed down. At the bottom there was a living room with a blue couch, black pillows, and a huge black T.V. In front of the blue couch was a clear glass coffee table. Over on the other side of a white door, there was a small bar. It had black marble counter with cherry wood and black stools. Inside the sterling silver fridge were butter beers, fire whiskey, and a few other drinks. A little bit beyond that was a kitchen, it was like any normal kitchen with a fridge, microwave, and oven. The counter top was black marble and the stove top was electric instead of gas. On the left and right back at the living room were doors with names on it. The plaque's were designed to match whoever was in there.

"Thalia, Nico, Percy, and Annabeth are in the first room on the left; Sally, Paul, Sirius, and Evangeline have the first room on the right; Harry, Henrietta, Ron, and Hermione are on the second room on the left; Bianca, Luke, Silena, and Beckendorf are on the second room to the right; Tiana, Leo, Piper, and Jason are on the third room to the right; Hazel, Frank, and Ginny are on the third room to the left; Fred, Ariella, George, and Lupin are in the last room," Kara said, "Lily, James there's an extra room if you want to sleep down here. Dad I wasn't planning on you coming so, you can figure out your own sleeping arrangement."

Poseidon flashed out and the demigods looked around in shock. Sure the Hecate kids did some crazy things, but never to this magnitude.

"You'll have fresh clothes ready when you wake up, there are already PJ's waiting for you," Kara sighed.

"Kara, how did you do this?" Percy asked looking around, "And in a storage closet?"

"Champion of Hecate, remember?"

The demigods and wizards all went to their respected bedrooms and got ready for bed. The inside of the bedrooms all had the same layout, two bunk beds one for the girls the other for the boys, two bathrooms one for the boys the other for the girls, and then there are the dressers each for one person and has clothing in it.

"Okay, demigods and wizards if you need help sleeping call me. I can put you to sleep in a snap, good night!" Kara called before going to her room on the opposite end of the hall.

**Me: So, this is the sad chapter…**

**Harry: No?**

**Me: When did you get so sarcastic?**

**Ron: Bloody hell…**

**Henrietta: What are you watching Ron?**

**Percy: Oh! I love this movie.**

**Annabeth: Great Ron, last time Percy saw this movie he wouldn't leave the couch until it was over.**

**Ariella: Movie?**

**Piper: Pretty much moving pictures.**

**Ariella: But don't they already move?**

**Sirius: Not muggle pictures, they don't talk to you either…**

**Ariella: I should get out of the house more often…**

**Sirius: Not gonna happen, the Ministry of Magic has no clue about you. Pretty much-**

**Ariella: I don't exist, we've been over this a few million times.**

**Percy: COULSON! YEAH!**

**Annabeth: Gods.**

**Me: Hey Percy! I'll turn of the T.V. if you don't ask for reviews.**

**Percy: You're evil, please review. Then I can get back to my movie.**


	6. I PLAY PINOCHLE WITH A HORSE

**Me: Well, one reviewer was mean… but he was close to something that did happen to Henrietta. Despite the fact he wanted it to happen to her again. **

**Henrietta: I didn't appreciate that review.**

**Me: But, it's in the past. Now let's get started!**

**Percy: *jerks awake* Hello faithful readers!**

**Annabeth: When did you fall asleep?**

**Percy: *yawns* After the movie… and then another movie… and then the one after th- *snores***

**Ron: Bloody…**

**Hermione: Did he…?**

**Harry: Just fall asleep?**

**Thalia: Yep!**

**Me: I don't care, Henrietta do the disclaimer.**

**Henrietta: Okay! Candyland7 owns nothing but her OC's.**

**3****rd**** Person POV**

The middle of the peaceful night was broken, with a scream; coming from inside the first room on the left. The residents of that certain room jerked awake immediately, disorientated and confused. Thalia threw a black pillow with golden lightning bolts towards the scream. Annabeth covered her face with a pure gray pillow and Percy fell off of his bed, which happened to be the top bunk.

"Ow," Percy complained getting off the floor.

"Who's screaming?" Thalia asked covering her face with her other pillow.

Percy cursed, realizing who was screaming. Annabeth shot him a disapproving look through the pitch black darkness. Groping for a light, Percy flipped on the switch, illuminating the room. Thalia cursed and covered her eyes while Annabeth blinked a few times to get the dots out of her eyes. Percy found Nico gripping the pure black blankets like a lifeline. Shaking Nico, Percy barely managed to get him awake.

"Nico," Percy started.

Before Percy could continue Nico started crying. Pulling Nico into a hug, Percy gently rocked him back and forth until Kara came in and forced him to sleep.

"He should have goods dreams the rest of the night, unless some deity forces nightmares on him," Kara sighed.

"Thanks Kara, by the way your hair is a mess," Percy laughed.

Kara rolled her sea-green eyes and walks away. Percy takes one last look at Nico before climbing back into his bed with sea-green covers and seashell print pillow cases. He drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

******MORNING*******

At breakfast, no one comments about Nico's red rimmed eyes or Henrietta's paler than normal figure. Apparently both of them had nightmares, even though Henrietta doesn't need sleep. She also joined them for breakfast, which was unnatural for her. Harry frowned at his sister a few times, as though also wondering about her strange behavior. James and Lily came downstairs, holding two little babies. One had curly red hair in little pigtails with purple bows and hazel eyes, the other had tufts of black hair and bright green eyes. Harry and Henrietta gaped at them, a bagel in Harry's hand and a piece of toast in Henrietta's.

"Is that?" Fred asked.

"Baby Henrietta?" George continued.

"And Harry?" Ariella ended.

"Yes," Lily smiled, "I talked to Kara, she said that time isn't frozen for anybody in the house; which means that Harry and Henrietta aren't frozen."

"That's confusing," Nico muttered.

"No, it really isn't," Hermione replied.

"Not that, the fact that there's two Harry and Henrietta's. Can we just call them HB and HG… the little ones?"

"HB and HG?" Harry asked.

"Harry Boy and Henrietta Girl," Nico explained as though it was obvious, "Little Harry and Henrietta Junior if you want. But it would be LH and HJ."

Lily frowned, "That is confusing, James?"

"HB and HG," James decided, "LH and HJ are just confusing."

**(A/N HB is Little Harry and HG is Little Henrietta… got it? Good)**

"Let's read," Kara announced pulling a sea-green brush through her messy hair and grabbing a piece of toast.

"Who is reading?" Ariella asked poking at her eggs.

"I will," James said handing Ariella HB and grabbing the book off the black marble counter top.

They all went into the living room and sat on the blue couch, though some ended up on the floor. Kara quickly fixed that and they all ended up on a blue beanbag. Lily handed HG to Evangeline and gave her a knowing smile.

**Chapter 5 I PLAY PINOCHLE WITH A HORSE**

"Did you read that right?" Silena asked as HB tried to eat hers and Ariella's hair.

"Yes," James replied slowly.

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.  
**"Grover and everyone else," Thalia smirked.

Sally paled and Percy glared at Thalia, who stuck out her tongue and Nico threw a pillow at both of them.**  
I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again.**

Sirius laughed, "That's one way to deal with it. Give me HG Eva."

Evangeline handed HG to Sirius, slightly happy as the little girl was very squirmy.

**I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.  
**"It was entertaining, he was like a baby that didn't want to eat the food," Annabeth smirked.

Percy pretended to look offended and Annabeth kissed his cheek.**  
When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"  
**"You asked him that?" Bianca asked in shock.

"Yeah, I thought he would know something," Annabeth replied, "Turned out his brain is full of seaweed."

Percy was so into making a water starfish that he didn't comment. Hestia flashed in.

"Your father told me that we're reading your stories. Decided to join," Hestia explained as Percy shot her a confused look.

"Okay, guys this is Hestia goddess of Hearth and Home," Percy introduced.

The Wizards gaped before Nico finally stole the book from James.**  
I managed to croak, "What?"  
**"Typical answer," Thalia mumbled.

James took the book back from Nico, after cuffing him in the back of the head.**  
She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"  
**"What's been stolen?" Lily asked.

"You'll see," the wizards that knew and the demigods that had been there chorused.**  
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't..."**

"Always apologizing," Thalia groaned banging her head on Nico's shoulder, who moved away from her.**  
Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.  
**"That's one way to shut someone up," Beckendorf commented moving slightly on his beanbag.**  
The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.  
**"Aw! You miss her!" Silena shrieked.

"No," Percy replied.**  
A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes - at least a dozen of them - on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.  
**The wizards gaped, Nico was about to take the book from James when he moved away from him.****

"Thanks Dad, for saying every single one of those stars," Henrietta sighed changing a random pillow into a dog then back again.**  
When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest.**

"How would you know what that felt like?" Nico asked jotting down notes.

"Umm, do you want to know?" Percy asked.

"Kinda," Nico replied, "I just want to know."

"It's a long story, what are you doing?"  
"Making notes for tortures in the fields of punishment. You have really good ideas."

"Continue James," Lily sighed rubbing her forehead.

**My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.  
**Everyone winced in sympathy, Percy gave Annabeth the incredibly detailed starfish and kissed her forehead. Nico had gone to playing with his dinosaur again. **  
On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.  
My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.  
**Percy have expected someone to make fun of him, instead they stayed silent. Much to Percy's happiness.**  
"Careful," a familiar voice said.  
Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. **

"He hadn't," Annabeth sighed.

"Poor Grover," Paul mumbled.

**Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMPHALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy.  
**"Hey! That's my nickname, you can't steal it," Thalia pouted.

"I won't, I call him G-man anyways," Percy shrugged.**  
So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And ...  
**"That's sweet," The mothers gushed and Sally sent a sad smile to Percy.**  
"You saved my life," Grover said. "I... well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."  
**"Great Grover," Nico muttered, "Just crush his hopes."

Percy pushed Nico over, it was hard since he was on the other side of Thalia, but Percy managed it. Though Nico fell off the couch and cursed in Ancient Greek, making Bianca slap him.

"What is it 'Injure Nico Day?" Nico asked grumbling.

"Actually, we created a day for everyone. Tomorrow is 'Injure Nico Day,'" Percy shrugged.

"Then what's today?"

"Annoy Thalia Day."**  
Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.  
**"Does that have the minotaur horn?" Thalia asked.

Percy nodded. **  
Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.  
**"I wish," the other demigods mumbled.

"I don't, then it would have meant I never met you guys," Percy smiled hugging Annabeth and Thalia.  
"When did you get so sappy Perce?" Thalia asked pushing him away.

"When I became cheesy."**  
"The Minotaur," I said.  
**"Don't, names have power," Sally sighed.

"I know Mom," Percy replied.

"Well you always use them…" Nico started before getting slapped again, "I moved to stop getting injured… mostly by James! But now my cousins."

"Stop being over dramatic," Thalia sighed.**  
"Urn, Percy, it isn't a good idea - "  
**"But does he listen?" Annabeth asked, "No."

Percy smiled sheepishly as the others laughed.**  
"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."  
**"Angry," Jason sang.

Henrietta moved away from the babies, they made her slightly uncomfortable.**  
Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"  
**"All of it," Percy answered.**  
"My mom. Is she really ..."  
**"Nope!" Nico exclaimed happily, "Aunt Sally's right here!"

Sally smiled as the demigods cheered.**  
He looked down.  
I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.  
**"Am I not supposed to look beautiful?" Thalia asked huffing.

"Listen," Percy mumbled.**  
My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.  
**"Oh," Thalia muttered.

"That's how I felt," Harry agreed.

The wizards nodded with Harry's words and the demigods frowned.**  
"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm - I'm the worst satyr in the world."  
**"We need to boost his self-esteem when we get back," Thalia growled, "And I just remembered."

Thalia slapped Percy as hard as she could with her hands sparking.

"OW! What in the world Thal's?" Percy asked rubbing his burnt arm.

"That's for going missing for almost a year!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Injure Hera! It's not my fault."**  
He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.  
**"How would that stay on?" Paul asked.

"Magic," The wizards and demigods said spookily.**  
"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.  
Thunder rolled across the clear sky.  
**"Drama queen," Kara muttered ignoring the thunder that rang through the sky.**  
As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.  
Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head.**

"I never did try that," Percy mused.

"I don't suggest it," Ariella sighed, "Sounds like he'd get mad at you for that."

**But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even Minotaurs. All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light. ****_My sister and my mother were gone._**

Tiana growled silently and Percy inched closer to Annabeth.**  
I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe? **

"No," Everyone, but Sally and Paul, growled.

Sally and Paul were confused, what made everyone so upset?

**No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something.  
**"You were to small to make it in the army, monsters would attack you on the street, and you could stay at camp year round," Annabeth listed off.**  
Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid - poor goat, satyr, whatever - looked as if he expected to be hit.  
**"He probably felt like it," Hazel frowned.

Ginny frowned slightly and felt bad for Grover.**  
I said, "It wasn't your fault."  
"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."  
"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"  
**"No," Sally sighed.**  
"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."  
**"What?" Frank asked.

"It'll explain," Percy sighed.**  
"But why ..." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.  
**"Another water analogy," Thalia groaned.**  
"Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here." He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.  
I recoiled at the taste, **

"Why? Nectar tastes amazing," Nico beamed.

Percy waved at James to read on.

**because I was expecting apple juice.**

"Oh," Nico frowned.

**It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies - my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.  
**"Aw!" Silena exclaimed while Piper stifled a yawn, she was woken up this morning.**  
Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.  
**"Magic," Thalia whispered.**  
"Was it good?" Grover asked.  
**"Yes!" All the demigods exclaimed**  
I nodded.  
"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.  
**"He would burn to ash," Hazel and Bianca sighed.

"What?" Evangeline asked while Sirius rocked HG back and forth.**  
"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."  
**"NO! Do you want him to die?" Frank asked.

"I didn't know, gods," Percy replied.**  
His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."  
"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Homemade."  
**"The best!" Everyone that had eaten Sally's cookies exclaimed.

"Mom, you should make blue cookies sometime," Percy smiled.**  
He sighed. "And how do you feel?"  
"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."  
**"Good for you, bad for her," Thalia smirked.**  
"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."  
**"Or I will be burst into flames," Percy replied cheerily.**  
"What do you mean?"  
**"Said earlier," Percy shrugged.**  
He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."  
**"Might as well be dynamite," Henrietta groaned, she has heard about nectar and ambrosia from other vampires.**  
The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.  
My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.  
**"That's how most feel," Annabeth sighed.**  
As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.  
**"It's amazing isn't it?" Jason asked.**  
We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture - an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena - except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.  
**"You have pegasi?" Hazel asked, "We only had Scipio… until he died."**  
Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.  
**"Checking out Annie aren't you?" Thalia asked.

"Don't call me Annie!" Annabeth exclaimed slapping her.

"No!" Percy exclaimed.**  
The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels - what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my stepfather.**

"Definitely," Percy muttered.

"I wonder what Dionysus would think of that?" Hestia mused.

"You have a god at your camp?" Frank asked.

"Yeah…" Percy replied.**  
"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, **

"Just a camper?" Annabeth asked.

**but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron... ."  
**"You do?" Ginny asked.**  
He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.  
First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.  
**"Mr. Brunner!" Ginny asked.**  
"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

"You think like Percy, Ginny," Ron teased.

Ginny looked at Percy before shrugging.**  
The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B.  
**"I hate it when teachers do that!" Nico exclaimed.

"You only went to school for what, a month?" Percy asked.

Lily, Evangeline, and Sally frowned.

"Paul?" Sally asked.

"I've got it," Paul sighed.**  
"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."  
**"Pinochle?" Lupin asked.

"I still don't know what it is," Percy shrugged.**  
He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."  
**"I should talk to Zeus about that," Hestia sighed.**  
"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.  
**Percy shivered and Thalia laughed.**  
"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.  
**"Still calling me the blonde girl?" Annabeth asked.

"I stop," Percy replied kissing her forehead.**  
She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."  
**"Hermes cabin," Percy muttered.**  
Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."  
She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image.**

Annabeth frowned at Percy, "My eyes ruined the image?"

"Keep reading," Percy told James.

**They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.  
**Annabeth smiled and she kissed Percy's cheek.

"They probably were," Thalia sighed.**  
She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You killed a minotaur! or Wow, you're so awesome! or something like that.  
**"Ego," Thalia sang.**  
Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."  
**Everyone laughed, HG and HB fell asleep. Evangeline and Ariella put the twins in the blue playpen.**  
Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.  
**Silena cooed.**  
"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"  
"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex - Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."  
**"Chiron, trainer of heroes and Heracles," Hermione gasped.

"Heracles is a jerk," Percy muttered under his breath.**  
"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for something?"  
**"Yes, Dionysus," Annabeth explained.**  
Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."  
**"They aren't…" Harry mumbled confused.

"Some names are," Kara explained, "Why do you think I use a nickname?"**  
"Oh. Right. Sorry."  
"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."  
**"I bet that made him feel better," Kara laughed.**  
"House call?"  
**"Going to someone's house, or in this case school," Lupin replied shrugging.**  
"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence."  
**"Going to make his ego bigger Chiron," Nico sighed.

"Shut up," Percy replied cuffing the back of Nico's head.

"Really?" Nico asked crossing his arms.**  
I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.  
**"I still haven't figured out what he did to him," Percy murmured.**  
"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.  
**"Any more words about Percy's ego," Annabeth warned, "And you will end up on the other end of my dagger."

Everyone, but Percy, inched away from the blonde haired daughter of Athena.**  
Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."  
**"Which I failed," Thalia sighed.

"You died?" Harry asked.

"It should explain."**  
"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"  
"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.  
**"Dionysus," Hestia sighed, "Zeus needs to talk to him."

"A lot," the Greeks and Jason muttered.**  
"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.  
**"No," everyone said, but Hestia.**  
"I'm afraid not," I said.  
"I'm afraid not, sir," he said.  
**Harry smirked and Hermione, Ron, and Henrietta had to hold in their giggles.**  
"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.  
**"Everyone hates him," Percy grumbled.

"And he hates you," Jason shrugged.

"To true."**  
"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules."  
**"We all know Percy's not civil," Leo joked.

Percy shrugged, "Eh, neither are you."

"Touché."**  
"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.  
**Annabeth turned to say something when Percy kissed her cheek. She decided to keep quiet.**  
"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun - Chiron - why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"  
**"So many questions," Ron and the Weasley twins groaned.

"Questions aren't too bad, it's a way to get answers," Henrietta shrugged.

"But sometimes they lead to more questions," Percy added.**  
Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."  
The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.  
**"Why is Grover so scared about Mr. D?" Sirius asked.

"Cause he's a god and can incinerate him," Frank explained.

"Percy hasn't learned that yet," Hazel sighed, "The way he talked to Mars."

"Ares and Percy go way back, you'll see why he hates Percy's guts," Annabeth explained.**  
Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.  
**"Not gonna happen," Thalia sighed.**  
"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?"  
**"No, she didn't tell me anything," Percy sighed.

"I told you some," Sally defended.**  
"She said ..." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here ****_without Tiana_****,**

Tiana sighed; she hadn't know it hurt them that much. Sally and Percy pulled Tiana over, putting the girl in front of Percy.

**even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."  
**"Especially after a certain someone left," Percy said looking down at the bright red daughter of Poseidon.**  
"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?"  
"What?" I asked.  
He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.  
**The parents all turned to Percy, who ignored them.**  
"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."  
**"You never saw it?" Thalia, Nico, and Annabeth asked.

"No…" Percy replied.

"I'm talking to Chiron about it," Annabeth decided.

"Orientation film?" Harry asked.**  
"Orientation film?" I asked.  
**Harry and Percy smiled at each other.**  
"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know" - he pointed to the horn in the shoe box - "that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods - the forces you call the Greek gods - are very much alive."  
**Kara frowned, "There is a fear called Zeusophobia, meaning that you're afraid of God or gods… I wonder what would happen if there was a demigod who had Zeusophobia." **  
I stared at the others around the table.  
I waited for somebody to yell, Not! But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.  
**"Confused?" Ron asked.

Everyone nodded, Ariella watched as HB and HG sucked their thumbs.**  
"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"  
**"He's going to eat Mr. D's Diet Coke can?" Ginny asked, "Isn't that bad for his teeth?"

"Not for satyrs," Kara replied.**  
"Eh? Oh, all right."  
Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.  
**"How can you chew mournfully?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know, you chew it with a mournful expression on your face," Evangeline shrugged.**  
"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God."  
**"I'm actually Christian," Kara muttered.

"But you're a daughter of Poseidon," Percy replied turning towards her.

"So, I've never seen him."**  
"Well, now," Chiron said. "God - capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."  
**"What does metaphysical mean?" Nico asked turning to Annabeth.

"Relating to things that are thought to exist but that cannot be seen," Annabeth explained

Everyone turned to Kara who put her nose in the air.**  
"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about - "  
"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."  
**"Smaller?" Hestia asked, a twinkle in her fiery eyes. **  
"Smaller?"  
**Hestia smiled at Percy, who returned it.**  
"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."  
"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."  
**"Interesting how you didn't say your father's name," Lupin frowned. **  
And there it was again - distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

"Drama queen," Thalia rolled her eyes.**  
"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."  
**"But he doesn't anyways," James frowned.

"Yeah, Zeus!" Percy called out ignoring the thunder.**  
"But they're stories," I said. "They're - myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."  
**"Science," everyone scoffed.**  
"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson" - I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody – **

"You make it sound like you're Batman," Nico smiled.

"Who's Batman?" Fred asked.

"We're having a movie night. We can watch any movie you like, though honestly. I've never watched Batman…" Kara explained.

**"what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals - they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."  
**All the mortals glared at the book.**  
I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... he wasn't. It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.  
**Nico looked at Annabeth and she sighed.

"Dutiful means doing what is expected of you," Annabeth explained, "We really need to get you into a school`

Nico frowned, "I don't wanna go to school."

"No one does," Kara replied.**  
"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"  
**"That sounds like a good deal," Hazel smiled.

"Yet Percy turned it down," Thalia replied raising an eyebrow at said boy.

He blushed, "I didn't want to deal with it… and I couldn't leave Annabeth."

No one noticed Tiana shifting uncomfortably or Henrietta for that matter.**  
I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

Ariella and George snuck off, with Fred's help.**  
"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.  
**"Pan," Percy frowned.

"Who?" James asked.

"God of the wild."**  
"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"  
**"That's harsh," Evangeline frowned.**  
My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."  
**"Neither does Kara," Paul said.

"I believe in the one true God. Zeus is a brat so there's no point believing in him or the others," Kara replied.**  
"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."  
**Kara snorted, "God protects me from getting incinerated, trust me… they've tried."**  
Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."  
**"I'm not," Percy pouted, "And my mom's not lost."**  
"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe.'"  
**"And girls," Annabeth sighed.**  
He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.  
**"His restrictions," Annabeth said automatically.

"What?" Harry asked.**  
My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.  
**"He's used to it," Percy explained.

"But…" Sirius said.

"Let me guess," Lupin sighed, "It will explain."

The demigods nodded.

"Glad you're catching on," Luke smiled. **(A/N I completely forgot about them!)  
"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."  
**Bianca sighed, "He's sour because of those."**  
Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.  
**"Annabeth?" Nico asked.

"Not genuine or real," Annabeth sighed.**  
"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"  
**"Very old habits," Silena sighed.**  
More thunder.  
**"Drama queen," Thalia muttered.**  
Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.  
**"Diet Coke," Jason frowned, "I thought it was Diet Pepsi."

"Dionysus is Diet Coke, Bacchus is Diet Pepsi," Percy explained.

Hestia switched from her Greek form to her Roman, she winced and placed a hand on her head.

"Sorry Hestia," Percy apologized.

"Its fine," Hestia sighed.**  
Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."  
**"Apparently he doesn't know what off-limits means," Nico frowned playing with the dinosaur.

"Neither do those guys," Fred said jerking his thumb towards Harry, Henrietta, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.

They blush as Lily and James paled.**  
"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.  
"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time - well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away - the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha.' Absolutely unfair."  
**"Brat," the wizards mumbled.

"Where did Ariella and George go?" Sirius asked.

Everyone turned to Fred. He drew his thumb and index finger over his mouth, twisted it as though locking them, and then pretended to throw a fake key away. Evangeline sighed.**  
Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.  
**"That's one way to put it," Henrietta sighed.**  
"And ..." I stammered, "your father is ..."  
"Di immortales, Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."  
I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.  
**"Dionysus," Hestia sighed.**  
"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."  
Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"  
**"Not really," Harry frowned.**  
"Y-yes, Mr. D."  
"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"  
**"I wouldn't even think that in my wildest dreams," the demigods shivered.**  
"You're a god."  
**Everyone chuckled.**  
"Yes, child."  
"A god. You."  
**"Percy, how are you alive?" Beckendorf asked.

"Luck… a lot of luck," Percy laughed.

"Percy, you have anything but luck," Nico replied quickly ducking as Percy goes to smack him.**  
He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. **

"How did you not remember that when we ran into them?" Hazel asked.

"I got us out in the end," Percy replied, "With Franks help."

**I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.  
**"I could see you in a strait-jacket," Frank joked.**  
"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.  
**"Yes," Thalia sighed.**  
"No. No, sir."  
**"That's a first," Nico sighed hiding behind the couch.**  
The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."  
**"Really?" Hestia asked.**  
"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."  
**"That's more like it," Hestia smiled.**  
I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. **

"He is," Bianca replied.

**He got up, and Grover rose, too.  
"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."  
**"He got me there alive," Percy huffed.

"You were unconscious," Annabeth sighed leaning her head on Percy's shoulder.**  
Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."  
**"He's matured a lot," Nico commented moving around, getting tired of sitting behind the couch.**  
Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."  
He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.  
**"Nico if you ask me what miserably means I'm going to drag you to school once the wars over," Annabeth called out.**  
"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.  
Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been ... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."  
**"Thank the gods it's fifty now," Percy sighed.**  
"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"  
**"No," Kara smirked.**  
"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence **

"Annabeth, what does convergence mean?" Nico asked.

"The act of moving towards one point and join together," Annabeth sighed.

**point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."  
**"God doesn't have to move, he can be everywhere at once," Kara explained.

Percy sighed, "Whatever Kara."**  
"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like ... in America?"  
**"And the Romans," Frank added.

"But we didn't know that at the time," Percy replied.**  
"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."  
**"What?" Hermione asked.**  
"The what?"  
**Everyone snickered as Hermione looked offended.**  
"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know - or as I hope you know, since you passed my course - the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps - Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on - but the same forces, the same gods."  
**Hestia switched back and forth, she left to go get something for her headache.**  
"And then they died."  
**Everyone shook their heads at Percy.**  
"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England.**

"Bloody, the gods were at England?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Hestia sighed, "I believe all wizards are either descendants of Hecate with her protection or their champions, like Muggle-Borns and then it gets passed down through the families."

"Oh," the wizards said.

**All you need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not - and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome,**

The Romans huffed.

_"__It's true," _Percy told them in Latin.

_"__Percy, be quiet… and you're Roman too," _Hazel replied.

_"__Slightly," _Percy replied.

_"__Excuse me, but we don't speak Latin!" _Thalia exclaimed.

Percy switched to Ancient Greek, _"Does it annoy you?"_

_"__Yes!"  
"Good."_

"Excuse us," Hermione said, "But what are you saying?"  
"Nothing."

**either - America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."  
It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of some club.  
**"We should start a club," Leo exclaimed.

"No," Jason and Piper said.

"You are no fun."  
Leo pouted.**  
"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... who am I?"  
**"You are Perseus Allen Jackson," Thalia smirked.**  
Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.  
**"That's what you think," Hermione whispered.**  
"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."  
**"More like addicted," Piper whispered.

"I swear, he could beat an Aphrodite child at how much chocolate they eat," Annabeth said to Piper.**  
And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, **

"Do they even make velvet underwear?" Nico asked causing everyone to jump, he literally came out of the shadows.

"That's it," Jason mumbled.

He got up and pulled Nico by the ear into the kitchen. They returned and Nico had a bell around his neck, which he couldn't get off thanks to Kara.

"There," Jason smiled.

Nico sat down on the other side of Percy, as though hiding behind him from Jason.

**but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.  
**"Is that even possible?" Piper asked.

"No," Leo and Beckendorf chorused.

"At least, not without magic," Beckendorf smirked.**  
I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.  
**"Like Firenze," Henrietta said.

"I like Firenze," Harry smiled.

"He's definitely better at teaching Divination then Professor Trelawney," Ron agreed.

"I still think you should have quit," Hermione sighed.

"Did Hermione actually quit something?" Ginny asked.

"Yes."

"Annabeth would never do that," Percy shook his head.**  
"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."**

"That's the end!" James exclaimed throwing the book at Nico, who jumped.

The bell around his neck jingled happily. Nico tried to yank it off again, but it didn't work. Those around Jason shrank away at Nico's death glare. Even Jason shrank backwards.

"I will get you back for this," Nico warned.

He went to jump, but Percy grabbed his waist and struggled to hold Nico back. Percy fixed Jason with his sea-green eyes.

"Run," he advised.

Jason got up and ran off. Percy held Nico as long as he could, with Nico kicking his face, and eventually just gave up. Nico took off and the others acted as though it was a normal event. Hestia flashed away, but not before warning that Ares was coming next.

"So," Percy said, "What should we do?"

"Umm," Lily said, "Shouldn't we stop Nico from killing Jason?"

Percy frowned, "Jason's good, if it goes to far I'll stop it."

Thalia sighed, "I'll help."

Sally raised an eyebrow and the cousins sighed and went to go find Nico and Jason. Thalia found Jason on the ceiling with Nico shouting at him on the floor. Percy picked up Nico and took the struggling son of Hades into the living room, where the others are watching the first season of Doctor Who on T.V. Nico pouted as Percy set him down on the couch, holding him down with water. Jason returned, slightly shaking, with Thalia and sat on the complete other side of the room.

"I'm going to kill you, even if it takes a long time," Nico warned before watching the show.

"Help me," Jason mouthed to Percy who shrugged.

**Me: Well, Nico wants to kill Jason and who knows where Ariella and George are.**

**Nico: *Glares at****_ Jason_*******

**Jason: *Shrinks closer to ****_Thalia_*******

**Thalia: You're on your own Jase.**

**Percy: Already did something about it.**

**Nico: *Continues to glare***

**Jason: Can I please leave?**

**Me: After you ask for reviews.**

**Harry: You know, Nico has really scary glares.**

**Hermione: He sure does.**

**Jason: Please review! *Runs out of room***

**Nico: *Smirks triumphantly as screams are heard***


	7. I BECOME SUPREME LORD OF THE BATHROOM

**Me: Well, Jason hasn't returned.**

**Henrietta: I don't blame him.**

**Nico: I got grounded though.**

**Me: I told you to be quiet and stay in the corner!**

**Nico: *Grumbles something inaudible***

**Thalia: Nico! *Slaps Nico***

**Me: What did he say?**

**Thalia: It's not for something kids should hear.**

**Harry: I have never heard someone cuss that much.**

**Henrietta: Not even Uncle Vernon.**

**Ron: Blimey that must be something.**

**Percy: How bad is your uncle at cursing?**

**Harry: Really bad. **

**Percy: Nico!**

**Me: We can get on Nico's language later. Someone do the disclaimer.**

**Thalia: author owns nothing but her OC's… NICO FREAKING DI ANGELO!**

**3****rd**** Person POV**

"LET ME KILL HIM!" Nico exclaimed struggling against Percy.

The wizards watched with slight fear and the demigods watched amused. HB and HG both had fallen asleep and Henrietta had put a sound proof bubble around them. So far, it had worked for keeping the sound out. It was a good thing to, since Nico was still shouting. Once the Doctor Who season had ended the whole fiasco started again.

"Nico calm down!" Percy shouted tightening his grip.

The bell around Nico's neck jingled happily. It only fueled Nico's anger at Jason, who was cowering behind Thalia. Kara was watching this, slightly annoyed, but decided not to do anything. Tiana though finally decided to do something. Reaching forward, she yanked at the bell. It broke off and Jason breathed a sigh of relief.

"Aw, girly you should have let them fight," a sad voice grumbled.

"Ares," Percy growled keeping one tight hand on Nico's arm.

The man had a few scars across his face and sunglasses over his eyes. They could all feel the angry aura around him. A few wizards shivered while Henrietta and Ariella frowned and balled their fists. Percy felt angry and Nico winced as the grip on his arm got really tight.

"Percy," Nico groaned trying to yank his arm out of Percy's grip.

"Sorry," Percy replied but didn't loosen his grip.

"Ow! Percy," Nico complained, "I can't feel my arm!"

Nico tried to get his arm out of Percy's grip. Henrietta eventually feels sympathy and pried Percy's hand off of Nico's arm.

"Can we just read?" Fred asked throwing a red ball in the air.

"I will," Kara sighed

**Chapter 6 I BECOME SUPREME LORD OF THE BATHROOM**

"Congrats Perce," Jason smirked.

"Shut up Jase," Percy replied, "At least I have a cool title."

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse,**

James snorted, trying to keep from laughing, Sirius doesn't manage to keep it in though.

**we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.  
**This time James doesn't manage to keep it in. Fred was full on laughing and Evangeline frowned.**  
We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."  
**"That was Travis," Beckendorf whispered.

"I miss them," Silena agreed.**  
Most of the campers were older than me. **

"HEY!" Beckendorf, Silena, and Annabeth exclaimed.

**Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMPHALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.  
**"Can you?" Nico asked being sure to stay out of arm reach of Percy.

"Uh, yeah," Percy replied, "And no, I'm not going to show you guys."

Everyone pouted at Percy who ignored them.**  
I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized - four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.  
**"The oracle," The older demigods breathed.

"I've heard rumors," Henrietta replied, "Don't they…"  
Harry covered his sisters mouth, "Spoilers, though I would like them."

"No," Hermione replied.**  
"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.  
**"Answered above," Kara replied.**  
He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."  
**"Sure," Eva said, "Just the attic."**  
"Somebody lives there?"  
"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."  
**"That's a lie," Fred shook his head, "I can smell it from here."**  
I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.  
**"Something did," Percy whispered as Nico slowly moved closer to the couch.**  
"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."  
**"A lot," Jason agreed.

"Camp is amazing," Thalia breathed.**  
We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.  
Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."  
**"How?" Paul asked.

"Magic," everyone else said spookily.**  
He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.  
**"Why not just regular grapes then?" Ginny asked.

"To much temptation?" Tiana suggested.

"YOU TALK?" Fred exclaimed.

The demigods laughed as Tiana hid herself behind Nico.**  
I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. **

"No," Annabeth said quickly.

"At least not then," Percy agreed.

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.  
**Percy automatically looked at Annabeth, who shrugged in response.**  
"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."  
**"Aw," Lily cooed.

Harry looked up, he was bewitching a random teacup with Hermione's help. Despite the fact she continued shushing him to listen.**  
Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. **

"That's one way to put it," Sirius shrugged.

**"Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."  
**"But he did that," Sally sighed.**  
"But he did that!"  
**Percy smiled at his mom, squeezing Annabeth's shoulder.**  
"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. **

"Not his fault," Henrietta groaned.

**Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother.**

Now everyone was looking at Sally.

**And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."  
**"He has plenty of courage," Thalia growled.

"Calm," Henrietta warned, "Don't want any accidents."**  
I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.  
**"Always blaming himself," Nico groaned.

"And who's always beating himself up," Percy whispered in Nico's ear who shifted uncomfortably.**  
"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"  
**"It was his second chance," Luke whispered.**  
Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age... ."  
**"How old is he?" Sirius asked, "Thirty something?"

"Uh, he's thirty-six now," Percy replied.**  
"How old is he?"  
**Sirius gaped at Percy, who smirked at him.**  
"Oh, twenty-eight."  
**"He sounds so casual about it," Ariella grumbled returning with George, "Like oh, look. The Earth is getting destroyed."

Everyone laughed at her joke, though most of it was bitter laughing.**  
"What! And he's in sixth grade?"  
"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."  
**"That sucks," Ron muttered.**  
"That's horrible."  
**"I agree with you there," Nico agreed.

"Nico, you were in school for like what? A few days," Percy smirked.

"Around half a year," Nico mumbled.

Everyone laughed at the blushing son of Hades.**  
"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career... ."  
**"Nope!" the PJO demigods exclaimed. **(A/N PJO demigods are the demigods from the PJO series and HOO demigods are from the HOO series and PJO)  
"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"  
**"Someone died," Luke and Annabeth mumbled.

"Right here," Thalia replied slapping them both.**  
Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"  
**"Aw," Thalia cooed, "He actually cared."  
"Still does," Percy replied ruffling Nico's hair, mostly since Thalia was on the other side of the room.**  
But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. **

"Oh, Hades," The demigods groaned.

"You didn't," Nico said, "Please tell me you didn't!"

Percy didn't reply. Nico groaned and banged his head on Percy's shoulder.

**The beginnings of an idea - a tiny, hopeful fire - started forming in my mind.  
**"No… No… No… No," Nico repeated with every bang on Percy's shoulder.

"Dude," Percy groaned, "You're going to kill all your brain cells."

"Don't… Care," Nico said with every bang on Percy's shoulder.**  
"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."  
**Henrietta's eyes widened, knowing where this was going.

"You're kidding me," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked.

"You'll see."**  
"Yes, child?"  
"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"  
**"NOOOO!" Nico complained.

Everyone jumped at his exclamation. Nico put a hand on his head and ran it down his face.

"Dude," Percy said rubbing his ears, "You are loud. And I'm right here."

Percy waved his hand in front of Nico. **  
Chiron's expression darkened.  
"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."  
**"But you didn't," Nico groaned.

"Give it a rest," Percy groaned.

Harry turned to Hermione.

"Do you understand any of this?" Harry asked.

"No," Hermione replied, "Now shut up I'm trying to figure it out."**  
"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"  
**"Blimey," Ron groaned, "This is getting confusing."

Hermione snapped her fingers.

"Please don't tell me you figured it out."

"I didn't figure it out," Hermione said smirking.**  
"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."  
As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.  
**Piper threw Percy a glare, which he raised his hand up smirking.

"Nobody had been there," Percy said.

Annabeth understood and started laughing.

"Second book," Percy replied to the others confused expression.**  
Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."  
**"Armed with what?" Lily asked watching HG and HB sleep.**  
"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"  
**"Mum, you think like Percy," Harry and Henrietta chorused.

The twins stared at each other in fear.

"No," Henrietta shook her head, "I am not thinking like you."

"I'm not thinking like you either," Harry agreed.

Ron and Hermione evaluated for them.

"Henrietta and Harry are close… like if you threaten one the other will practically kill you. But they can't stand thinking or acting like the other," Ron explained.

"Henrietta hates being compared to Harry," Hermione agreed, "And Harry hates getting compared to Henrietta."

"We understand," Percy and Jason both said.**  
"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"  
**"Yes," Percy said.

The demigods all nod.

"We have our wands…" Harry whispered to the wizards.**  
"My own - ?"  
**"Percy, always so oblivious," Annabeth whispered.**  
"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."  
I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, **

"Never let Percy there," Thalia said quickly.

"Oh my gods," Bianca groaned, "I saw Percy there once. He failed completely."

**the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), **

Percy shrugged at all the looks he got.

**the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.  
**"Percy," Annabeth asked, "Where's Riptide?"

Percy reached in his pocket and handed Annabeth Riptide. She uncapped it and put it in pen form before turning to the wizards.

"Do you have a piece of paper?" she asked.

Hermione stared at her before reaching into her black robe and handed Annabeth a piece of parchment. Annabeth jotted something down before waving Kara on.**  
"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.  
"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."  
**"Way to change the subject," Leo laughed.**  
Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.  
**"What do you do when it rains?" Lily asked.

"You'll see," Percy replied.

"I hate those two words," Harry and Henrietta muttered.

"That's it," Henrietta groaned, "Harry shut up!"

"Hey!" Harry exclaimed.

"Shh."

"But-"

"Shush."

"Humph."**  
"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

No one mentioned that Percy and Lily said the same things. They were all watching as Henrietta and Harry had a staring contest.**  
Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.  
**"Good idea," Annabeth said.**  
Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them,**

"But," Jason started.

Thalia covered his mouth, "Spoilers."

**nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.  
**"I'll admit it," Thalia groaned, "It is pretty bizarre looking."

The demigods all nodded in agreement.**  
Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).  
**"You play basketball?" Nico asked.

"I also skateboard," Percy shrugged.

"There's a skateboarding rink and a basketball court. There's more things to for our next break. It will be in a few more chapters," Kara said, "Now can we continue?"**  
In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.  
**"Hestia," Ares grumbled, "You actually saw her."

"I saw her too," Nico mumbled.**  
The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.  
**"Hera," The seven grumbled with Thalia and Nico.

"Hate her," Annabeth replied.

"Everyone does," Ares agreed.**  
"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.  
"Correct," Chiron said.  
"Their cabins look empty."  
**"Right here!" Thalia and Jason waved.**  
"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."  
**"What are we, chopped liver?" Jason asked.

"Hey! You're certainly chopped liver but I'm not," Thalia replied.**  
Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. **

"That's one way to put it," Sirius agreed.

"Watch what you say boy," Ares growled.

**Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?  
**"The pact," one of the demigods mumbled.**  
I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.  
**"It's like he's connected to Poseidon," Kara mumbled sounding slightly jealous.**  
It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. **

Kara was frowning reading this whole thing.

"That sounds awesome!" Leo exclaimed.

**I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"  
**"Why not?" Jason asked.

"I don't know," Percy replied shrugging.**  
Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."  
**"Your cabin is amazing," Thalia said sounding wistful.**  
Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.  
**"That was true, then at least," Annabeth whispered.**  
Number five was bright red - a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, **

Ares glared at Percy, who ignored him.

"My daughter doesn't look like that ignorant mortal," Ares growled.

**Though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.  
**Henrietta started fingering her hair thoughtfully.**  
I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

"PARTY PONIES!" Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Thalia, and Silena exclaimed.**  
"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."  
**"Or in a war," Percy whispered.**  
"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."**

Henrietta, Lupin, Lily, and Hermione both look up interested.**  
He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."  
**"Heracles is a jerk," Piper growled.

"Jerk does not even begin to describe him," Percy agreed.**  
"But, shouldn't you be dead?"  
**"Tact," Hermione groaned.**  
Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."  
**"He'll always be needed," Annabeth agreed.

"Can Chiron come in?" Percy asked.

"Let me think about it," Kara replied. **(A/N MEANING YOU GUYS GET TO VOTE! THERE WILL BE MORE OPTIONS AT THE BOTTOM)  
I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.  
**"What are you Top Ten Things?" Annabeth asked.

"My number one is you," Percy whispered.

"Cheesy," Leo grinned.**  
"Doesn't it ever get boring?"  
"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."  
**"Depressing?" James asked.

Percy nodded and ruffled Nico's hair slightly, much to Nico's disappointment.**  
"Why depressing?"  
**"James," Sirius said.

"Yes Sirius," James replied.

"Where did Evangeline go?"

"I'm right here Sirius," Evangeline said sitting down next to her daughter.

"Mum," Ariella groaned.**  
Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.  
**"Selective hearing," Kara murmured, "I've got that."

"I think he just ignored me," Percy replied.**  
"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."**

"Kara! Why are you reading every single stupid star?" Jason asked.

"Because I want to," Kara replied throwing something at Jason.**  
The blond girl **

Percy was fixed with Annabeth's glare and he shrugged.

**I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.  
**"Hermes cabin," Piper evaluated.

"Then what's number twelve?" Lily asked.

"Mr. D's," Percy replied.**  
When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.  
**"No," Annabeth answered, "I was trying to figure out who you're father was."**  
I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.  
**"It was an architecture book," Annabeth said.

"And it probably was Greek," Bianca agreed.

Kara mumbled something in Ancient Greek before going back to reading.**  
"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."  
**"That's not easy," Nico grumbled.

"Not my fault you don't sleep well in different places," Percy shrugged.**  
Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it... ? **

"Ten drachma he gets it wrong," Thalia bet.

"Ten he gets it right," Annabeth replied.

**A caduceus.  
**Thalia muttered something in Ancient Greek under her breath and hands Annabeth ten drachma.**  
Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.  
**"But in a small cramped cabin," Nico added.

"That's horrible," Lily gasped, "Why would they do that?"

"It explains," Thalia replied.**  
Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.  
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."  
He galloped away toward the archery range.  
**"The one place Percy isn't allowed to go," Sally smiled.

"Why not?" Lupin asked.

"Cause he nearly killed another camper," Beckendorf explained.**  
I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.  
"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."  
So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself. There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.  
**"Of course," Kara grumbled, "Gods, I'm happy I don't go to camp. Too many people."

"You're scared of people?" Percy asked.

"Yes. No more questions."**  
Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.  
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.  
**"That was Connor I believe," Annabeth explained.**  
I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."  
Everybody groaned.  
**"Same reaction with me," Nico added.

"That's not very nice," Lily said.**  
A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."  
**"Luke," PJO demigods whispered.**  
The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.  
**"What happened to him?" Nico asked.

"You'll see," Annabeth whispered.**  
"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing. **

Annabeth now blushed and covered her face with her blonde hair. Kara gave off a small laugh as the others chuckled or giggled.

**She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."  
**"For now?" Ginny asked.**  
"For now?" I asked.  
**"Ginny! You're infected!" Thalia exclaimed.

Ginny jumped, "What?"

"GET AWAY FROM HER! IT'S CONTAGIOUS!" Leo caught on.

Everyone scooted away slightly startled.

"Where here today to mourn Ginny Weasley we lost her to PJS, Percy Jackson Syndrome. Please bow your head in her memory," Nico finished. **(A/N Thanks for the idea HappyAnimalLover)**

The wizards stared in shock as the demigods, but Percy, bowed their heads. Percy slapped his cousins and then splashed Leo with water. He then turned to Ginny apologetically.

"Don't mind them," Percy said, "My cousins are evil and Leo… I don't know what to say for him."**  
"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."  
**"That makes sense," Lily sighed, "But why not put them in the big house?"  
"I never asked," Percy shrugged.**  
I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.  
**"They would have like the minotaur horn," Luke nodded.**  
I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.  
**"Undetermined, Connor and Travis, and Hermes," Luke listed off.

"Connor and Travis are alone in their group?" James asked.

"Yeah," Percy replied, "They take pride in it."**  
"How long will I be here?" I asked.  
"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."  
"How long will that take?"  
**"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth groaned.**  
The campers all laughed.  
"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

"I've already seen it."  
"Oblivious," Silena added.**  
"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.  
When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."  
**"Last name," Luke groaned, "Annie's angry."  
"Don't. Call. Me. Annie. Castellan," Annabeth clipped off every word.

"Point taken," James gulped.**  
"What?"  
She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."  
**"Aww!" Silena cooed.**  
"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy - "  
"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"  
**"To get killed?" Harry asked.**  
"To get killed?"  
**The same thing that happened to Ginny happened to Harry. **  
"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"  
**"Uh, to protect ourselves," Percy told Annabeth.

"I know," Annabeth groaned, "I was so naïve back then."**  
I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."  
"Yes."  
"Then there's only one."  
**"Yeah," Lupin murmured, "Good point."**  
"Yes."  
"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."  
**"A gajillion isn't a number," Hermione pointed out.

"Your point?" Percy asked.**  
"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."  
**"Kinda like a vampire?" Henrietta asked, "We can only be killed by getting cut up and burnt."

"Or by the killing curse," Harry whispered.

"I guess," Annabeth replied.**  
"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."  
**"ALL HAIL THE SARCASM KING!" Leo exclaimed.

Everyone jumped before laughing.**  
"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."  
**Everyone looked at Henrietta who shrugged.**  
I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword - "  
"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."  
**"How do you know about Mrs. Dodds?" Sirius asked.

Annabeth waved Kara on.**  
"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"  
**Again, the same thing that happened to Ginny and Harry happened to Sirius, this time the other wizards joined in.**  
"You talk in your sleep."**

"Blackmail," Nico and Thalia grinned.**  
"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"  
**Nico shrugged when everyone looked at him.**  
Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."  
**"Why Kindly Ones, they're not kind," Percy grumbled.

"I don't know," Annabeth replied.

"Annabeth not knowing something. The world is coming to an end!" Percy shouted grinning stupidly.**  
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."  
**"That's a good point," Evangeline agreed.**  
I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent."  
**"Parents, plural," Piper pointed out, "Has camp had children with two godly parents?"

"Once, I think," Annabeth replied shrugging.**  
She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.  
"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."  
**"But, Aunt Sally's right here," Nico murmured confused.

"You'll understand later," Sally replied.**  
"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."  
**Ares growled silently.**  
"He's dead. I never knew him."  
**"Your dads not dead," Ares growled.

"I know," Percy replied.**  
Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead, Percy."  
**"To many times, but you have payback now," Annabeth smirked.

"I had to do it with Tiana," Percy shrugged, "Apparently she had already known though but yet she let me do it anyways."

Tiana smirked and the wizards laughed.**  
"How can you say that? You know him?"  
**"Now I do," Annabeth said.**  
"No, of course not."  
"Then how can you say - "  
"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."  
**"Stalker," Fred whispered.**  
"You don't know anything about me."  
"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."  
**"Stalker," George added.**  
"How - "  
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."  
**"Stalker," Ariella agreed.**  
I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"  
"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD - you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."  
**"What about Rachel?" Piper asked.

"She's different," Percy replied, "You'll understand in the… fourth book?"

Annabeth nodded.**  
"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"  
"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."  
**"Ambrosia… isn't she a girl in the Hermes cabin?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, Ambrosia Richardson. She has a bad past," Percy replied.**  
"Ambrosia and nectar."  
"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."  
**The wizards perk up, "A half-blood? Like half wizard half mortal?"

"You'll see," Percy replied.**  
A half-blood.  
I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.  
**"I can relate," Harry added.

Henrietta stepped on his foot.**  
Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"  
**"And enter Clarisse!" Percy exclaimed.**  
I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.  
**"Camo," Kara muttered.**  
"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"  
"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."  
**"Miss Princess?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, she stopped calling me that," Annabeth replied.**  
''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."  
**"It pretty much means 'Go to Hades!' at least that's what Annabeth told me," Percy replied.**  
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"  
**"Perseus Achilles Jackson at your service," Percy bowed.**  
"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."  
**"That's your half-sister Frank," Percy said turning to the Son of Mars.

He frowned and Harry turned to Hermione, who shrugged in response.**  
I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"  
**"Yes," Frank groaned.

"What's wrong with me boy?" Ares asked.

"Nothing, nothing."**  
Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"  
**Ares nodded in agreement with Clarisse.**  
"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."  
**Ares got up to attack Percy but Kara pulled him down.

"No violence, either leave Ares or stay in peace," Kara replied.

Are grumbled, but didn't flash out.**  
Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy." **

"The beginning of my nickname from Clarisse," Percy said kicking a random marble he found.**  
"Percy."  
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."  
**"Why do I have a feeling it's not going to be a good one?" Ron asked.**  
"Clarisse - " Annabeth tried to say.  
"Stay out of it, wise girl."  
**"Did you get the nickname from Clarisse?" Thalia asked.

"No, I don't even remember that," Percy replied.**  
Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.  
**No one said anything, but a few of the demigods smirked.**  
I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.  
**Thalia gagged, "Thank the gods that I didn't have to go through that."

"She stopped after Percy," Annabeth explained.**  
I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking - as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out - that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.  
**"Good point," Sirius agreed.

Everyone else was laughing hysterically.**  
Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.  
**"Probably not," Thalia agreed.**  
"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."  
**"She takes it back now," Percy said to the parents affronted looks.**  
Her friends snickered.  
Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.  
**"I was not!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Yes you were," Percy replied automatically.**  
Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets.**

Everyone gagged, a few even held their noses.

**I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.  
**"Stubborn," Ginny sang.

The demigods all smirked.**  
Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. **

They were smirking even more now.

**Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.  
**And now they were laughing hysterically. The wizards all gaped, before joining in the laughing.**  
I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.  
**Ares growled and looked like he was going to attack and Kara gave him a warning look before continuing.**  
She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.  
**Everyone, but Ares, cheered. Though the mature adults stayed quiet, but there was a faint smile on their face.**  
As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.  
**Percy splashed a few of the wizards with water.

"Hey! Percy!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Oops, sorry," Percy smirked.

"I'll get you," Hermione replied, "And it won't be pretty."**  
The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.  
**"Of course I was! You just made the plumbing explode," Annabeth sighed.

"Good point," Percy replied.**  
I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.  
**"Cool," Jason murmured.

The wizards nodded in agreement. Hermione pointed her wand at Percy.

"Aguamenti," Hermione whispered.

Percy let the water hit him but it slipped straight of his body still dry.

"Lucky!" Ron exclaimed.**  
I stood up, my legs shaky.  
Annabeth said, "How did you ..."  
**"Son of Poseidon," Percy announced.

"We know," James replied.**  
"I don't know."  
We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."  
**Percy examined himself, "I'm alive."

"So far," Hazel whispered.**  
I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."  
**Everyone cheered while Ares growled.**  
Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.  
**"She was so upset," Luke said, "It wasn't even funny."**  
Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.  
**"Both," Annabeth replied.**  
"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"  
**"Demanding now are we?" Fred asked.

"You know Freddie, I think this needs more bang," George suggested, "It's a little boring."

"I was thinking the exact same thing George."

"Can I join?" Leo asked.

"Us too!" Sirius and James exclaimed.

"I'll join," Ariella shrugged.

"This is going to be a disaster," Annabeth groaned.**  
"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

"Annie's got a plan," Thalia rubbed her hands together.

"Don't call me Annie," Annabeth growled.

"Well, see you all later!" Fred and George chorused getting up.

"Crap," Kara groaned, "Bye Ares."

Ares flashed away and miles away on Olympus the gods had to deal with an angry war god.

"You guys start without us," Fred said.

"Wait!" Kara exclaimed.

But it was too late, everyone that joined Fred and George to make a bang had already left. Kara sighed and watched as they disappeared in the next room. The demigods and wizards exchanged glances, this wasn't going to be good. Evangeline frowned and Lily sighed.

"Well, let's make a small snack," Sally suggested.

"Blue cookies?" Percy asked.

"Blue cookies," Sally agreed.

Percy pumped his fist in the air before following his mom into the kitchen.

"There's blue dye in the top cupboard!" Kara called.

"Thanks!" Percy called.

"How good is Percy at cooking?" Piper asked a little wary.

"He's amazing," Nico replied, "What should we do while they make snacks?"

Lily came over, "You can watch HB and HG. Play with them maybe."

Hermione had already picked up HG and Ginny was playing with HB. The demigods shrugged and went over.

"Wait," Nico said, "Who's reading next?"  
"Bianca," Kara replied checking her list.**  
Me: That's the end. Okay, do you want these people to come in. Vote their letter please. You can choose two**

**A: Chiron**

**B: The rest of the Weasley family but Molly and Arthur. **

**C: Wood**

**D: Harry's first Quidditch team**

**E: Draco**

**F: Other (If so please specify in review)**

**G: Henrietta's boyfriend (You finally get to meet him)**

**Harry: I'm kinda scared to see what Fred and George are up to.**

**Henrietta: Hmm, do I get to choose?**

**Me: No.**

**Percy: Really? Back to your normal stubborn self.**

**Me: I'm not stubborn…**

**Annabeth: Oh really?**

**Me: Just ask for reviews please.**

**Annabeth: Fine, please review. Remember the letters!**


	8. MY DINNER GOES UP IN SMOKE

**Me: Chiron and the Weasley family but Molly and Arthur won!**

**Ron: So my mum and dad are coming in?**

**Me: When you guys start reading yeah.**

**Ginny: But what about Fred?**

**Annabeth: He stays anyways.**

**Hermione: How would you know?**

**Annabeth: I read it over her shoulder.**

**Percy: Huh, that makes sense I guess.**

**Me: You guess?**

**Thalia: Percy's not the smartest pea in the pod.**

**Percy: HEY!**

**Me: Harry, can you do the disclaim- OW! Perseus Achilles Jackson!**

*******_Percy _****runs off with ****_Thalia _****swinging a spear at him and ****_Me _****glaring at them both***

**Harry: *Gulps* author owns nothing but her OC's. Sweet Merlin, put down that sw-**

**3****rd**** Person POV**

The Moms and Percy all went to the kitchen to make the cookies. Percy was standing on a chair trying to get the blue food coloring. So far all he had succeeded in was nearly falling off and destroying the cabinets. Henrietta and the other kids ended up playing a game because James was putting HB and HG down for a nap. Tiana had disappeared into the kitchen, probably watching Percy amused from a safe spot.

"KARA!" Percy shouted walking into the living room causing everyone to jump.

Kara stared at him, "Having trouble getting the blue food dye?"

Percy nodded pretending to pout.

"First of all, I'm shorter than you. How am I supposed to get the dye. Second of all, how do you think I would look with a blue streak in my hair?" Kara asked studying her black hair, Percy groaned in response, "Fine," Kara sighed, "HARRY!"

She skipped over to him and Harry watched her warily. The girl whispered something in his ear and Harry stared at her before pulling out his wand.

"Accio blue food coloring," Harry muttered.

It zoomed over and Harry caught it before throwing it at the surprised Percy. Kara jumped up and hugged Harry before skipping away. Harry stared at her confusion in his green eyes before continuing his talk with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. Percy returned to the kitchen still shocked and pours it in the waiting batter. Lily and Evangeline are making a colorful fruit salad. With strawberries, blueberries, pomegranate seeds (Percy didn't want to see Nico's reaction to that), mangos, bananas, papayas, pineapple, and a few more fruits. The knives cutting the fruit and putting it in the bowl were moving on their own with the women talking together.

James came in looking slightly startled, "Lily."

"Mmm," Lily said looking up.

"Uh, I might have wrapped Henrietta and Harry in the invisibility cloak for their nap and now I can't find them."

"The babies?" Evangeline asked.

James nodded looking abashed. Lily stared at her husband.

"But I swear, last time I saw them they were in the living room," James said putting his hands up in surrender.

"Who were in the living room?" Harry asked walking in.

"HB and HG," Percy answered, "James lost them."

Henrietta buried her face in her brother, her body shaking with laughter. Sirius also started laughing with Remus.

"James! That's what, the seventh time this week?" Lily asked.  
"Eighth," James whispered.

"Can't you do what you did with the food dye to get the cloak?" Percy asked turning to Harry.

Harry shook his head and everyone exchanged looks. Soon everyone ran out of the kitchen to find the babies, Hermione and Annabeth where whispering between each other trying to figure out which way the babies went. Lily and James both were arguing silently.

"Ach," a voice said, "Please don't pull my tail."

The demigods all looked at each other before going in that direction. In the entryway was a brown haired centaur with a golden horse body. HG was in his arms pulling at the scruffy brown beard, HB was on his golden back pulling on the tail. Percy quickly pulled Baby Harry off of Chiron's back while Annabeth took Baby Henrietta.

"Chiron," Percy said, "Hi. When did you get here?"

"Hello Percy, a few minutes ago. Now where have you been my boy?" Chiron asked patting Percy's back.

"It's a really long story. That you will hear eventually. Right Kara?"

The girl had walked in, "Yeah. And three more people should come in the living room right about… Now."

There were shouts of surprise in the living room and they all ran in. In the middle of the room, standing in HG and HB's playpens were three boys with red hair. One had his in a ponytail, his face was scared, and he had what looked to be a dragon fang in his ear. The other had burns and his red hair was cut short. The other had horn rimmed glasses and wavy red hair.

"Hi guys, long time hasn't it. The Wizarding War wasn't it?" Kara asked smirking.

"You know them?" Percy asked.

"Well obviously," the horn rimmed glasses guy said, "She's a-"

Fred quickly covered his mouth, "No spoilers."

"Fred?" The other two red head boys asked.

"Long story," George replied.

"Introduce yourselves again!" Kara exclaimed, "Including you Chiron."

They original ones all introduced themselves. Much to the others surprise.

"Percy Weasley," Percy W. said.

"Bill Weasley."

"Charlie Weasley."

"Chiron."

Bianca shrugged as Sally, Evangeline, and Lily bring in the snack food. Henrietta actually eats one of the cookies, smiling as she takes a bite. It melted in their mouths.

"These are really good Aunt Sally," Thalia smiled.

"Amazing," Nico agreed.

"I'm reading!" Bianca exclaimed taking the book and popped a strawberry into her mouth.

**Chapter 7 MY DINNER GOES UP IN SMOKE**

"WAIT!" Percy exclaimed, "Who's the god reading with us?"  
"Athena…" Kara replied, "ATHENA!"

Athena appeared, her gray eyes were narrowed.

"I was on my way Ms. Smith," Athena said.

"Sorry, sit down. Bianca is reading," Kara replied.

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.  
**"Both," Luke replied, "I asked later."

Annabeth grumbled something about a stupid boyfriend with stupid fish powers. She shut up when Percy kissed her cheek.**  
She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), **

"Hephaestus kids," Beckendorf and Leo chorused.

**the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man),**

"I think that's supposed to be Pan," Hermione laughed.

"It is," Silena announced.

**and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.  
**"That's not very safe," Evangeline frowned.

"It's fun though," Percy said.

"It sounds fun," Charlie agreed.**  
Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.  
"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."  
**"I couldn't wait that long for dinner," Kara gaped.

"That's why you don't go to camp," Percy replied.**  
"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."  
"Whatever."  
"It wasn't my fault."  
**"Wait, what happened?" Bill asked.

"Long story, you can read alone another time," Percy replied.**  
She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.  
**Everyone laughed and Percy blushed.

"Is it even possible to become one with the plumbing?" Percy W. asked.

"Yes," Percy replied.**  
"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.  
**"Rachel?" Jason asked.

"No," Percy said quickly.**  
"Who?"  
"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."  
**"Rachel isn't a what," Jason grumbled.

"It wasn't Rachel," Annabeth said barely above a whisper.**  
I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.  
**"I often feel that way," Harry agreed giving a pointed look at Hermione.

"Me too mate me too," Ron added.

Henrietta and Hermione shrugged and ignored all the looks that he was given.**  
I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.  
**"You kinda are," Thalia whispered.

"Do the cloud nymphs wave at you?" Percy asked.

"No."**  
I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.  
**"That's not weird at all," Ginny grumbled.

Before Harry could open his mouth Henrietta slapped him.

"Not a word out of you," Henrietta warned.**  
"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."  
**"Jealous," Leo sang smirking.

Annabeth went to get up and slap him but Percy grabbed her waist and pulled her down onto his lap. Percy kissed her cheek.

"Don't kill him yet," Percy replied.

Athena grumbled.**  
"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."  
**"Okay, it was the naiads that pushed you over the edge?" Jason asked.

Percy shrugged, "More like everything combined."**  
Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."  
**"Hey! What about Camp J?" Hazel asked.

"We didn't know about Camp J then," Annabeth replied.

Harry frowned, "The only safe place for wizards… is when Tom is dead."

"Tom?" Bill asked.

Henrietta got up and whispered the answer in his ear. Bill stared at her in shock.**  
"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"  
**"You realize that you just called yourself mentally disturbed?" Luke asked.

"I also called you mentally disturbed," Percy replied.

"Touché."**  
"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."  
**"You mean half wizard?" Percy W. asked.

"No," Nico answered it short and to the point.**  
"Half-human and half-what?"  
"I think you know."  
I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.  
"God," I said. "Half-god."  
**"You mean like Thor?" Charlie asked.

"No, like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Or their Roman form Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto," Percy replied, "Tu forsitan putas, quod magi Latine?" (Do you think that the wizards speak Latin)

"Nescioan," Jason replied. (I don't know, maybe)

"Me syncho̱reíte, allá den miló̱ Latinikí̱," Annabeth said. (Excuse me, but I don't speak Latin!)

"Excuse us," Ariella waved, "But we don't speak whatever you guys are speaking!"

"Sorry," the three muttered and smirked at each other.**  
Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."  
"That's ... crazy."  
"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"  
**"Still haven't," Athena groaned.**  
"But those are just - " I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth. "But if all the kids here are half-gods - "  
"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."  
**"That's what we call half wizards," Harry agreed.**  
"Then who's your dad?"  
Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.  
"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."  
"He's human."  
**"Excuse me?" Athena asked.

Percy didn't answer, he just smirked.**  
"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"  
**"Very," Athena agreed the girls nodding in agreement.**  
"Who's your mom, then?"  
"Cabin six."  
**"How is he going to know that?" Ginny asked, "I don't even know."

"It hasn't been mentioned yet," Lupin replied.**  
"Meaning?"  
Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."  
**"I sense a little bit of pride," Evangeline smirked.

"Eva," James said.

"Yes."

"It's weird seeing you at eighteen…"

"Okay then."**  
Okay, I thought. Why not?  
**"Wait," Sirius said, "Isn't Athena a maiden?"  
"Yes, I am," Athena replied.

"Then how do you have kids?"

"Fourth book, no spoilers," Percy said quickly at Athena's look.**  
"And my dad?"  
**"Poseidon," Athena growled.**  
"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."  
**"Yep, Nobody knows," Percy smirked.

No one understood while Annabeth snorted.**  
"Except my mother. She knew."  
"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."  
"My dad would have. He loved her."  
Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."  
**"You mean sometimes it doesn't?" Harry asked.**  
"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"  
**Before Leo could open his mouth, Harry did a silencing spell on him.  
"I know okay, besides I've already been diagnosed," Harry smirked before undoing the spell.**  
Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always ... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."  
**"Why make kids if you don't care about them?" Evangeline asked.

Everyone turned to Athena.

"What, I claim my kids. You'll have to ask the others. Shut your mouth Jackson," Athena said.**  
I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.  
**"They should," Paul agreed. **(A/N I totally forgot about him. SORRY PAUL!)**

**"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"  
**"Depends," Annabeth said.**  
"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. **

Silena and Piper huffed. Annabeth raised her hands up in surrender.

**The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble - about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."  
**"Wait, like who?" Bill asked.

"Taylor Swift, daughter of Apollo. George Washington, son of Athena. Rick Riordan, son of Hermes," Annabeth listed off.

"Rick Riordan…" Percy whispered, "He's a son of Mercury, met him at the Roman Camp. Told him all of my adventures and joked about him writing a book about it."

"Well apparently he did," Bianca said, "Look at the authors name."

"Who wrote Harry's book series?" Ginny asked suddenly curious.

"J.K. Rowling," Kara replied.

"She was in the Ravenclaw House," Sirius piped up, "We played pranks on her."**  
"So monsters can't get in here?"  
Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."  
**"Or if someone's tree gets poisoned," Percy whispered to Annabeth.

Thalia overheard them and stepped on Percy's foot, shocking him.**  
"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

Percy gave a pointed look to Luke, who turned red.**  
"Practice fights. Practical jokes."  
"Practical jokes?"  
**"Hermes cabin," Beckendorf said.**  
"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."  
"So ... you're a year-rounder?"  
Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.  
**Annabeth subconsciously rubbed the beads.**  
"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."  
**"Why did you come so young?" Ginny asked.**  
"Why did you come so young?"  
**Ginny raised her hand up for silence, "I have already been diagnosed."

Leo pouted.**  
She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."  
"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"  
**"Suicidal," Thalia and Nico coughed.**  
"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."  
**"A quest," Athena finished her daughters sentence.**  
"Unless?"  
"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time ..."  
**"It didn't end well," Luke whispered subconsciously touching his scar.**  
Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.  
**Annabeth and Luke shook their heads.**  
"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff - "  
"Ambrosia."  
**"Again, isn't there a daughter of Hermes named Ambrosia?" Leo asked.

"We already answered your question," Percy replied.**  
"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."  
**"What happens?" Harry asked.

Henrietta was thinking hard, she already knew that it had something to do with Zeus' lightning bolt. Other than that she didn't know anything and it was driving her insane. Hermione had already joined in with Henrietta trying to figure it out.**  
Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"  
"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"  
**"That's what we want to know," Henrietta groaned.**  
She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."  
**"You've been to Olympus?" Lupin asked.

"Been there, she-" Thalia got her mouth covered on all sides.**  
"You've been to Olympus?"  
"Some of us year-rounders - Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others - we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."  
**"Wait, if you went there wouldn't you know all the gods?" Harry asked.

"I've seen then but I've never met them," Annabeth replied.

"Oh," Harry replied still confused.**  
"But... how did you get there?"  
"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You are a New Yorker, right?"  
**"How is he supposed to know that?" Hermione asked.

Annabeth shrugged in response.**  
"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.**

Thalia frowned, "I didn't even know that."

Annabeth shrugged, "I'm sorry, I thought he saw the Orientation Film."**  
"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I mean - Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. **

"The rivalry with Poseidon," Nico laughed, "Look how that worked out."

"Shut up Nico," Percy and Annabeth chorused.

Nico huffed, moving out of the way as Percy went to hit him.

**But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."  
I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.  
**"Boys, and there food," Thalia groaned picking up a pomegranate seed.

Nico paled and the seven all looked at each other. Percy gently put Annabeth down next to him and guided Nico away until the hall. Everyone that didn't know all exchanged looks.

"Uh, why did he react that way to the pomegranate seed?" Thalia asked staring at the seed as though it might be poisonous.

"Death trance," Hazel whispered.

"A what?" Harry asked.

"You'll find out," Annabeth said quickly, "Right Kara?"

Kara nodded, "I don't think Nico and Percy will return soon. I'll go see."  
Kara walked off, only to return with an odd look on her face.

"Percy told us to continue," Kara announced, "Read Bianca."**  
"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem ..."  
**"I was so naïve," Annabeth groaned.**  
I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl.**

"Did you?" Hermione asked.

"No, it was the look on his face," Annabeth smiled.

**She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.  
**Thalia shrugged, "Sounds like Annie."

"Don't call me Annie," Annabeth said absentmindedly.**  
Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers.**

"Hermes kids," Lupin guessed.

"That sounds like you three and Peter," Lily replied glaring at the Marauders.

"Actually," Kara piped up, "I always imagined Lupin to be an Athenian kid, and then Sirius and James to be Hermes kids, and then Peter is Nemesis."

Everyone stared at her. Henrietta and Hermione had their wheels turning before they slowly nodded.

"That makes sense," Hermione agreed.

**Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my Minotaur horn.  
**"He was carrying it around the whole time?" Bianca asked interrupting herself.

Annabeth nodded, "He didn't trust the Hermes campers."**  
The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.  
**Everyone turned to Luke and he shifted uncomfortably at the Luke's. Bianca saved him by continuing to read.**  
"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."  
I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.  
**"Nope," Luke smiled.

"Speaking of which," Annabeth turned to Luke, "You owe the camp around three hundred drachmas."**  
I said, "Thanks."  
"No prob." Luke sat next to me pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"  
"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."  
**Now everyone turned to Kara. She pretended not to notice them.**  
"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."  
**"What do you mean?" Silena asked.

"Nothing."**  
The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything.  
**"Just about," Luke grumbled.

Harry took a strawberry and ate it.**  
"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.  
He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, **

"All in good time," Thalia joked.

This time the parents all switched their glares to Luke, who shrunk away from them.

"Thanks Thalia," Luke grumbled.

Fred grabbed a grape and threw it at George. Who caught it with his mouth and ate it.

"Thanks Forge," George smiled.

"Anytime Gred," Fred replied.

The Weasley's all smiled sadly at this interaction. Kara sensed this and looked up.

"We'll take a break after this chapter," Kara announced.

**but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."  
"The wing-footed messenger guy."**

"That's one way to classify him," Athena smiled.**  
"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."  
**"Unlike all the other gods and goddesses," Beckendorf agreed.

They gave a pointed look at Athena who shrugged.**  
I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. **

"At the time I did," Luke frowned, "I'll have to apologize to Percy later."

**He just had a lot on his mind.  
"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.  
**"We all have now… except Jason and Hazel," Annabeth agreed.

No one noticed a tuft of black hair hiding behind the couch, except for Kara. She had known he was there the whole time.**  
"Once."  
I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.  
**"No," Athena sighed, "That was Landon."**  
Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."  
**No one said anything.

"Family?" a small voice asked before hiding again.

"Who said that?" Harry asked suddenly in a defensive stance.

"Come out," Thalia said gently having spotted the tuft of black hair, "We won't hurt you."

Thalia gave a pointed look to Harry; he put down the wand and slid it back into his belt. The little boy peaked his head out from behind the black couch; sea-green eyes wide with fright were seen.

"Pwomise?" he asked timidly.

"I promise, what's your name?" Thalia asked even though she had a pretty good idea.

The boy smiled widely, "I'm Percy Jackson! My mommy said that she named me after Perseus, the only Greek hero that had a happy end. Perseus is a weird name don't you think? I pwefer Percy." **(A/N PJ is little Percy. Okay?)**

Thalia laughed that was so something Percy would say, "Okay, come here. I'm Thalia Grace, your cousin."

PJ ran forward and hugged Thalia. She laughed and PJ caught sight of Annabeth.

"Who is she, she's pretty," PJ whispered, though it wasn't silent.

"I'm Annabeth."

Everyone said who they were to PJ and he continued to sit on Thalia's lap.

"How old are you?" Harry asked.

"I'm this old," PJ said putting up five fingers.

"Continue Bianca, we can learn more about PJ later," Kara ordered.**  
He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him - even if he was a counselor - should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.  
**"What about Annabeth? She gave you a tour, even after you drenched her with toilet water," Henrietta asked.

"Annabeth is pwetty," PJ smiled a toothy grin.**  
I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

"I hate prophecies," Luke grumbled.**  
Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."  
**"No need to repeat yourself," Leo smiled.**  
"What do you mean?"  
His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to the camp."  
**"Percy," Thalia muttered.  
"Yes?" PJ asked looking up.

"Not you, older you. He's somewhere else, with your other cousin."**  
"Somebody special?"  
"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."  
The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.  
**"Fishy powers," Leo grumbled.**  
Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"  
The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. **

"Now he's at the top," Hazel smiled.

**Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.  
**"Artemis cabin," Thalia smiled.

Lily looked up, "Isn't Artemis a maiden goddess? Why does she have a cabin?"

"Honorary and so that the Hunters can stay there when they come to camp," Annabeth explained.**  
We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods - and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.  
**"I like maple trees," Kara muttered randomly.**  
In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.  
**"There's a lot more now," Jason laughed.

"That's not even half of Camp J," Hazel shook her head.

"There's a lot more wizards than that," Harry agreed.**  
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.  
**"TMI," Sirius groaned.**  
I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.  
**"Pollux and Castor," Annabeth said sadly.**  
Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.  
**"Athena," Kara said, "Why do all your kids have blonde hair?"  
Athena ignored her.**  
Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.  
**Everyone gave a small smile, and PJ was looking at Sally. Trying to figure out why Sally looked like his mom.**  
Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"  
Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"  
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want - nonalcoholic, of course."  
**"The Dionysus kids always hated that," Luke smiled.

"The Bacchus kids would to," Hazel agreed.**  
I said, "Cherry Coke."  
The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.  
Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke."  
**"Bwue!" PJ exclaimed happily.

"Yes, blue. Now have a blue cookie," Thalia said handing him one.

PJ chewed on it happily.**  
The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.  
**"Cobalt, what is cobalt?" Ron asked.

"A hard, shiny, silver-white metal that is often mixed with other metals," Athena automatically said.

"Oh, okay."**  
I took a cautious sip. Perfect.  
I drank a toast to my mother.  
**Sally smiled sadly and PJ frowned.

"What happened to Mommy?" PJ asked.

"Nothing," Thalia said immediately and she tightened her grip on PJ.**  
She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday...  
**PJ's eyes widened and he started to sob. Thalia rocked him back and forth, trying to comfort him.**  
"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.  
I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.  
**"So oblivious," Harry grumbled, "Like Ron."

"Oi!" Ron exclaimed.**  
"Come on," Luke told me.  
As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.  
**"Offerings," Hermione said.**  
Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."  
**"It really doesn't smell that bad," Athena said to the confused looks.**  
"You're kidding."  
His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.  
**Athena crossed her arms and glared at PJ, he frowned and pulled on his blue footie pajamas.**  
Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."  
I was next.  
I wished I knew what god's name to say.**

"Whose my daddy?" PJ asked sniffling.

"You'll see," Thalia whispered still holding him.**  
Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.  
I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.  
When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.  
**"What?" Henrietta asked.**  
It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.  
**"Hmm, that sounds interesting," Harry muttered.**  
When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.  
**Chiron smiled now. **  
Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."  
**"I need to have Father talk to Dionysus," Athena groaned.**  
A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.  
"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."  
**"Percy Jackson," Paul automatically corrected.**  
Chiron murmured something.  
**"I corrected him," Chiron said.**  
"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."  
**"It's actually a lot of fun," Thalia explained at the wizard's looks.**  
Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.  
**PJ shivered at the mention of home. Thalia felt it and rubbed his back gently.**  
Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.  
**"I feel that way a lot," Harry agreed.

"I'm never tired," Henrietta shrugged, "Unless I miss a certain thing."

Everyone shivered.**  
My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.  
**PJ again started to sob, this time Sally took PJ and started to rock him.**  
When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.  
That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.  
I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.**

"That's one way to end a chapter," Bianca said putting the book on the table.

PJ had fallen asleep on Sally and everyone watched as she set him on the couch with a blanket over him. It was silent in the room. The only sound was everyone's breathing. This was an accomplishment for the ADHD demigods. No one said anything the entire time. They were waiting for Percy and Nico to return. Though no one knew when they would.

Eventually, Percy walked in. He looked about to say something, but then he saw himself. Asleep on the couch with a blanket over him. Percy pointed at PJ opening his mouth to form words, but nothing happens. Thalia frowned wondering what happened to Nico.

"Is that little me?" Percy asked finally able to form words.

"Yeah, when did you get so annoying?" Thalia asked.

"Haha, very funny Thal's."  
"How's Nico?"  
Percy frowned, "He's fine… a bit shaken up… but he's fine."

Thalia glared at him, "What happened while I was gone?"

Percy shook his head, "To much has happened, it will explain."

Kara clapped her hands together, it was getting to depressing.

"Okay, wizards I want you guys to hang out with the demigods. No spoilers and no killing each other. I'm looking at you two Harry and Percy," Kara warned.

Harry and Percy rolled their eyes at the girl. They weren't going to kill each other. After Kara was done setting down the rules, Nico wandered in. He was still really pale and had a haunted look in his eyes but he was responding now. Thalia frowned and the mothers were wondering why he was acting like this.

"Are you allergic to pomegranate seeds?" Evangeline asked.

"Sure," Nico muttered.

Kara rolled her eyes and showed them the different area's to have fun.

**Me: The next chapter is going to be a break chapter. Did you guys like PJ?**

**Nico: It kinda scared me. Two Percy's…**

**Harry: You say it like it's a bad thing.**

**Thalia: It is Harry, trust me it is.**

**Harry: Okay then…**

**Henrietta: That's kinda mean.**

**Percy: They're just teasing, I hope…**

**Me: Do I care… actually I do. But anyways can one of you guys ask for reviews.**

**Harry: Please review, I kinda want to see what the break is like.**


End file.
